Cards, KPIs and gauges
Single-number visuals, and showing progress toward a target.
Visuals that show one number well.
Card
One number, large. The headline figure — total revenue, active customers, orders today.
KPI
A card with context: the value, a comparison, and a trend. A number on its own says nothing about whether it is good; "£1.2m, up 12%" says considerably more.
Gauge, linear gauge, bullet
Three shapes for the same idea — a value against a range, usually with a target.
- Gauge — the dial. Familiar and space-hungry.
- Linear gauge — a horizontal bar. Compact enough to stack several.
- Bullet — a thin bar inside a wider track, with a target marker. The most information-dense of the three and the easiest to read in a row.
All three take a value, a minimum, a maximum and a target. A gauge with no target is just a number taking up a lot of space — use a card instead.