Qlik Isn’t a Bakery—So Why All the Donut Charts?

When dashboards start to look like pastries, real insights get lost.

Author

Glenda Carnate
December 05, 2025

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Here’s something Qlik won’t say: donut charts catch your eye, but not your mind. Yet stakeholders keep asking for them over and over.

Just last week, a stakeholder asked for a donut chart in Qlik for the 3rd time this quarter. We explained the issues, showed other options, and even demonstrated how the chart can distort comparisons. But the donut chart came back. Once it appeared on the dashboard, everyone acted like they could “interpret the distribution,” even though the slices just looked like colorful sprinkles competing for attention.

At that point, it wasn’t real visualization. It was just confusion in the shape of a pastry... a shiny circle pretending to offer insight.

6 Truths Every Data Pro Needs When a Stakeholder Says “Donut Chart”:

  1. Start by making a comparison.
    Show that a bar chart gets the message across twice as fast as any circular chart.

  2. Focus on the question first, not the chart.
    Asking, “What decision are we making?” often stops the donut chart in its tracks.

  3. Keep the number of categories small to avoid confusion.
    Circular charts stop working well if you have more than three slices.

  4. Make clarity your main goal.
    If people can’t understand it in two seconds, the chart isn’t working.

  5. Take advantage of what Qlik does best.
    Interactive filtering and bar charts in Qlik always work better than donut charts.

  6. Do a side-by-side comparison.
    Stakeholders usually change their minds once they see how much clearer the better chart is.

💡Key Takeaway: 

A donut chart might please the stakeholder, but it leaves real insights out.
Or as the meme puts it: Insight—0%. Sugar content—way too high.

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