Item: Google Charts
Rating: 8
Author: Sarah Bandy

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Charts organization-wide in order to gather desperate pieces of data and information and report back to our Board of Directors and other staff members about how we are tracking for our goals. It enables me to put data points together in a professional manner that is easy for all of our supporters and organizational stakeholders to understand.

Pros and Cons

The designs that Google Charts have available are incredibly slick.
Saving and sharing charts made on Google Charts is really easy - I can put together a report for our stakeholders in no time.
The customization piece on Google Charts is really intuitively designed.

I would like a couple more introductory videos or a live chat option for when you run into an issue. I think this is a Google-wide problem, not only linked to Google Charts.
I have run into some issues with the Dynamic Data but also admittedly could potentially dive in deeper and investigate.
It would be great if Google Charts made it possible to integrate Google Chat into the platform.

Return on Investment

Google Charts helps me to engage with my stakeholders and use our data points to show positive trends, or to shift gears and pull out from strategies that aren't working.
Since Google Charts is free and integrates with my GSuite, I don't see any reason why someone shouldn't give it a try.
I've been able to successfully visually track where and how we want to grow.

Alternatives Considered

Piktochart

I definitely prefer Google Charts over Piktochart chart because of the way that it integrates with Google Sheets, Google Drive, and Google Docs. The entire G Suite is completely crucial to our operation and having an outside chart program doesn't streamline or make data delivery any easier for our team members.

Key Insights

Do you think Google Charts delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Google Charts's feature set?

Yes

Did Google Charts live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Google Charts go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Charts again?

Yes

Usability

When you are familiar with all of Google's platforms, integrating a new section is pretty simple due to the shared visual language and confidence in past engagements with the platform. The usability is butter smooth just like all of the other Google products that we use to deliver our mission.

Support Rating

Google is pretty difficult to get in touch with if you have any specific questions, in my opinion. This is probably due to the massive need and the numbers of a Google Help team would likely just keep ballooning. I think a chat function that is in real-time would really help.

Likelihood to Recommend

Google Charts is absolutely well-suited for putting together reports for outside stakeholders or making clear trends that are happening with your business or nonprofit organization. It's helpful because it immediately makes your information and data look more professional and is great for folks that are more visual learners on your team. It's less appropriate for data that has multiple points and would be better in Google Sheets.

Google Charts, No False Starts!

Overall Satisfaction with Google Charts