A simple way to show trends for specific Metrics or KPIs is to display an arrow or a color combination. Xcelsius Trend component does both in one go. Below is an interactive xcelsius swf model which displays the trends of a metric for four regions. The dashboard is interactive, enter the target value and change the individual regions metric values to see the trend icon change accordingly.
Xcelsius trend icon component can be binded to a single cell only. You can assign colors based on whether the cell value is positive, negative or zero. You need to be a little creative in order to change the values of the binded cell to positive, negative or zero based on the individual metric value.
For example, the target is set to 100, and the East region’s value is 65. If high values are good for the metric which we are considering in this example, then the trend icon should show a down arrow with red color. In order to do this I had written a simple IF formula in the cell which is binded to the trend icon, so that it displays (-1) if the east value is less than target, 0 if it is equal and 1 if it is higher.
Feel free to try with different combinations. You can change the Values of individual regions and the target.
