The Marimekko Alternative

Stacked bars are fine. But once you need to compare proportions across groups AND show the actual totals, they start to break down. This is the chart that replaced it.

In this tutorial, you'll build a Marimekko alternative in Tableau that shows the proportional breakdown of each group by light conditions — with the total count for each group displayed directly on the chart. It's a technique straight from a Next Level Tableau class, and once you build it, you won't go back.

What you'll learn:

• How to set up the base chart and sort groups by volume
• Building a running total calculation and placing it on columns
• Using fixed size with right-alignment to create the Marimekko bar effect
• Nesting a running total inside a percentage-of-total calculation and why two separate table calculations are required
• Configuring compute-by settings for both the column axis and the size shelf
• Adding a reference line from the Analytics pane to show group totals
• Formatting so the totals sit cleanly above the bars without clutter

If you're comfortable with table calculations and want a more powerful alternative to the stacked bar, this one belongs in your toolkit.

To follow along, download the workbook and data at https://nlt.kit.com/marimekko.