Chart Pattern · Reference

Scatter 2×2 Quadrant

Strategic positioning · 4 quadrants with named zones

Customer segments — Margin × Growth

Two metrics, four named quadrants · bubble size = revenue · color by quadrant

✓ When to use

  • Strategic positioning across two binary dimensions
  • Classifying portfolio items into action zones (BCG, attractiveness, RICE, etc.)
  • Communicating "where should we play?"

✗ Avoid when

  • Continuous spectrum without natural midpoints — plain scatter is better
  • More than 25 items — labels overlap, message is lost
  • "Quadrants" forced onto data that doesn't cluster — looks contrived

★ Best practice

  • Label each quadrant with the action it implies, not just descriptors
  • Set the dividing lines at meaningful values (median, threshold) not arbitrary
  • Use bubble size to encode magnitude (revenue, count)
  • Color by quadrant to reinforce the categorical message