KPI Card
Also called: Card visual, Scorecard, Big number (BAN)
A KPI card is a dashboard visual that shows one headline metric as a large number, usually with a comparison to target or a prior period and a small trend indicator.
What a KPI card shows
A good KPI card answers three questions at a glance:
- What’s the number? The current value, large and bold (e.g. $1.24M revenue).
- Is that good? A comparison to target, budget, or the prior period (+8% vs. last month), often colour-coded.
- Which way is it heading? An optional sparkline or arrow showing the recent trend.
The label should name the metric and the time frame. “Revenue” is ambiguous, while “Revenue (MTD)” isn’t.
KPI card styles
The small visual under the number changes what the card says. These are the six styles you can build in Mockko:
| Style | Best for |
|---|---|
| Number only | Tight rows where the delta says enough |
| Sparkline | Showing the trend behind the number |
| Area + high / low | Volatile metrics where the range matters |
| Bar sparkline | Counts per period (weekly tickets, daily orders) |
| Comparison bars | This period vs. last, side by side |
| Progress bar | Progress toward a target or quota |
Multi-row cards and colour direction
When several related numbers don’t each deserve their own card, a multi-row card stacks them, each with its own change. And whatever the style, colour should follow direction: for revenue, up is green, but for churn or cost, up is red.
Where KPI cards go on a dashboard
KPI cards almost always sit in a single row across the top of the page. That’s where readers look first, so the cards act as the summary and the charts below explain them. Order them by importance from left to right, and keep them the same size so none looks more important by accident.
In Power BI vs. Tableau
| Power BI | Tableau | |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in visual | Card, Multi-row card, and the newer Card (new) with reference labels | No dedicated card, so you build one from a text worksheet showing a single measure |
| Comparison / target | KPI visual, or reference labels on the new card | Calculated field for the delta, shown as a second line of text |
Common mistakes
- No comparison. A number with no target or prior period tells the reader nothing about performance.
- Too many decimals. Round to what someone would say out loud: $1.2M, not $1,243,118.47.
- Inconsistent colour logic. If green means “good”, make sure that’s true for cost metrics too, where going down is the good direction.
Mocking up KPI cards
Settle the row of cards first. Which metrics make the cut is usually the hardest conversation with stakeholders, and it’s much cheaper to have that conversation on a mockup than after the measures are built.
