Briefle words · Data & charts
Other category
Also called top-N grouping
Combining the many small categories of a breakdown into one neutral 'Other' group so the chart shows only the few worth comparing.
Say it to an AI
Part-to-whole view of September visits by traffic source, answering 'how much comes from search'. A pie chart with just three slices, Search, Social and an Other category grouping the nine small sources in grey, with the shares in the legend and a one-line note on what Other contains.
How an expert would brief the stronger version of “Traffic sources pie”.
See it
Try it as a puzzle →Audience overview in the analytics dashboard of an online news magazine.
Why: B merges nine sources from Direct 13% down to 1% into one 35% grey slice and lists the biggest in a note.
More ways experts use it
Donut of September tickets by category with a legend of shares. Keep the top six categories and collapse the rest into an Other category (top-N grouping) in neutral grey, so the categorical palette only has to cover seven slices and nothing under 1% gets its own color.
Ticket categories donut · Data & charts
Related words
Room 1 · Essentials
Learn “Other category” in a five-minute lesson