Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
When should I pick Waterfall?
When the story is: P&L bridges, budget vs actual, headcount walks.
When should I avoid Waterfall?
Skip it in cases like: the story is a trend over many periods, not a bridge.
Who invented or popularised it?
Popularised in 1980s–90s consulting decks (McKinsey waterfall)
What does it encode?
signed bar height from a running total
Is it OK in ads?
Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure.
Will a teacher accept it?
Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present.
Waterfall encodes values as signed bar height from a running total. Popularised in 1980s–90s consulting decks (McKinsey waterfall).
In reports, ads and assignments it fits P&L bridges, budget vs actual, headcount walks. Skip it when the story is a trend over many periods, not a bridge.
Mistakes
- Failure modes 1 — the story is a trend over many periods, not a bridge
- Failure modes 2 — 3-D pies and perspective bars
- Failure modes 3 — Dual axes that fake a correlation
- Failure modes 4 — Truncated axes that shout a small delta
- Failure modes 5 — Legend only, no direct labels
- Failure modes 6 — Missing source, unit or period
Fixes
- Fixes 1 — Return to P&L bridges, budget vs actual, headcount walks.
- Fixes 2 — Flat, one axis, direct labels.
- Fixes 3 — Color-blind-safe palette plus pattern.
- Fixes 4 — Rewrite the title as a claim and add a source line.
Waterfall: honour signed bar height from a running total, and switch when the story is a trend over many periods, not a bridge.