A 100-cell waffle chart with your own shapes in Power BI

In short

What is a waffle chart? It is a grid of small cells, usually 10 by 10. Each cell is worth 1%: a 43% rate colors 43 cells out of 100. The eye counts cells far more easily than it compares the angles of a pie chart, and a waffle speaks to everyone, meetings included.

Mini example. Out of 528 customers surveyed, 446 received their order on time: 446 ÷ 528 = 84%. The waffle colors 84 cells; the 16 light cells are the late deliveries.

• What the visual does. Waffle Plume has two free modes: Percentage (one waffle per category, the percentage written in large type) and Parts of a whole (every category shares one waffle); the Units ★ mode (one row of pictograms per category, 1 cell = N units) is premium. Cells can be squares, circles, hearts, people, houses… and a different shape for each category.
• When to use it. For a rate (satisfaction, progress, target coverage), a split into a few parts (sales channels, contract types) or a telling headcount ("one person = 10 employees").
• When to prefer something else. To compare more than 8 to 10 categories precisely: Bar Plume. To follow a value over time: Line Plume (Waffle Plume can also replay the waffle year by year with the Play axis ★ field). For a hierarchy with several levels: Sunburst Plume.
• What you will be able to do. Prepare the data, show a percentage, share the waffle between categories, change the cell shape and the fill order, filter the page.
• What you need: Power BI Desktop, the Waffle Plume visual installed (see the shared basics), a measure (a rate, or an amount). The PlumeWaffle-Sample-EN sample report, in your "Downloads" area, shows the Percentage and Parts modes (page 1), use cases (page 2), the ★ features (page 3) and the year-by-year change ★ (page 4).

The data to provide

The shape. One row per category (or per category and year combination), with an amount. The category is a column; the amount goes through a measure (a DAX formula that adds up), so that Power BI computes each part correctly.

Channel	Amount
Store	420,000
Web	310,000
Phone	120,000
Marketplace	90,000
Trade shows	60,000

To try it without a file: Modeling › New table, then paste:

Sales =
DATATABLE (
    "Channel", STRING, "Amount", DOUBLE,
    {
        { "Store", 420000 },
        { "Web", 310000 },
        { "Phone", 120000 },
        { "Marketplace", 90000 },
        { "Trade shows", 60000 }
    }
)

Then the measures (Modeling › New measure):

Revenue =
SUM ( Sales[Amount] )                            -- the amount of each channel

Web share =
DIVIDE (
    CALCULATE ( [Revenue], Sales[Channel] = "Web" ),  -- Web revenue
    CALCULATE ( [Revenue], ALL ( Sales[Channel] ) )   -- divided by the revenue of every channel
)

Format Revenue as a currency and Web share as a percentage (Measure tools › Format: Percentage).

Pitfalls.

• A rate goes as is in Value: a measure formatted as a percentage (0.31) fills 31 cells. An amount needs a denominator: drop it in Total (100%), or add a category to get parts.
• A negative value cannot fill a cell: it counts as zero and a warning icon appears.
• Without a measure in Value, the visual counts the rows of each category.

Step by step

1. Insert Waffle Plume from the Visualizations pane. The visual shows "Add fields to get started".
2. Drop the Web share measure in Value. A 10 × 10 waffle appears: 31 colored cells, "31%" in large type on the left, with the measure name. The cells appear one by one, in fill order.
3. Hover a colored cell: the tooltip gives the value, the percentage and "31 of 100".
4. Create a second Waffle Plume visual. Drop Channel in Category and Revenue in Value. The visual switches to Parts of a whole: the five channels share the 100 cells, from largest to smallest, and the legend reads "Store · 42%", "Web · 31%"…
5. Click a Web cell: the page is filtered on that channel and the other channels step back. Ctrl + click adds a channel, a click in the empty space clears the selection. The legend can be clicked too.
6. Open Format › Cells › Cell shape and pick Basic · Circle: every cell becomes a dot. Try People · Person or Objects and buildings · House: these shapes are free.
7. Open Format › Data colors. Under each channel, a color and a shape: give Web the Nature and weather · Cloud shape and another color. Each channel can have its own shape.
8. In Format › Layout › Waffle, set Fill order to Column by column, from the bottom: the waffle fills like a stacked bar. Try Rows = 5 and Columns = 20 for a strip.
9. Set Layout › Waffle › Mode to Percentage: one waffle per category. Each channel gets its own waffle, with its percentage written in large type; Layout › Categories and waffles › Waffles per row sets how many waffles sit side by side.
10. Save. In the published report, readers filter the page with a click, with the keyboard too (arrows, Enter, Escape).

Troubleshooting

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
"Add fields to get started"	Nothing in Value or Category	Drop a measure in Value
The waffle is full (100%) with an amount	An amount without a denominator is read as "the largest value = 100%"	Add the denominator in Total (100%), or a Category for parts
The percentage is not the expected one	The automatic rule does not fit your data	Layout › Percentage computed: Value is a ratio, Value in points or Share of the sum of the categories
Warning icon "Negative values counted as zero"	Negative amounts (credits, returns)	Filter them out or use a measure that excludes them
A channel is called "Others"	More than 10 categories	Layout › Categories and waffles › Categories at most
The shapes are tiny	A very wide shape (car, truck) in a square cell	Use fewer Rows and Columns, or a more compact shape
"Premium preview" watermark	A ★ feature is used without a key (play axis, Units mode, snake order, ★ shape, SVG, partly filled last cell, target, small multiples)	Go back to the free setting or enter your key in Format › Plume Studio License

Key points

• A rate in Value: a 100-cell waffle; an amount: add Total (100%) or a Category.
• With a Category, the parts share one waffle; the total is always 100 cells (largest remainder method).
• 22 free shapes, and a different shape per category in Data colors.
• Four free fill orders (plus two ★ snake orders) and a grid of 1 to 50 rows and columns.
• A year in Play axis ★: ▶ replays the waffle, cells fill or empty from one year to the next (watermark without a key).

Going further

• Use cases: pictograms, target, SVG, small multiples, year by year.
• Fields and settings: every setting of the Format pane.
• Getting started with Plume visuals: installation, license, styles, dynamic formatting.
• The visual page: Waffle Plume. A question: support.