Likert

    Likert batteries, done like a research agency

    Diverging stacked bars with the neutral split on the axis, N/A detached, top and bottom box nets, means on the scale, and significance letters between segments on weighted effective bases. Map Question, Answer and a Value; that is the whole setup.

    Get it on Microsoft MarketplaceDownload the .pbiviz package

    Certified by Microsoft30-day free trial: choose Buy now on the listingHow licensing works

    Datasheet
    Status
    Available on Microsoft Marketplace
    Certification
    Microsoft Power BI certified. Exports to PowerPoint and PDF, works in email subscriptions and certified-only tenants.
    Price
    $1.99 /user/mo · $19 /user/yr
    Licensing
    Per user, assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center, with a 30-day free trial. Unlicensed viewers see the free tier, never a blocked visual.
    Data
    Computed inside Power BI. No external calls, no API keys, no telemetry.
    Visuals API
    5.11
    Accessibility
    Single-tab-stop keyboard navigation, Windows high contrast, captions read by screen readers
    Languages
    English, Czech
    Methodology
    Published at /research/methodology; engine validated against R and scipy
    Works in
    Power BI Desktop, Service, Embedded
    Pl. VII  ·  Likert  ·  the product spotrecorded from the shipped visual
    Likert battery in Power BI in tracker mode with dimension score bars, tested change and benchmark deltas
    Pl. VII  ·  Likert  ·  Employee survey battery in tracker mode: dimension score bars, the tested change since the previous wave, margins of error, benchmark deltas, the smart caption and the footnote.rendered from the shipped visual
    What it does

    SmartVisuals Likert is the battery chart insights teams put in their decks, as a Power BI visual. Diverging stacked bars centred on the axis, the neutral answer auto-centred or placed where you want it, N/A detached with an explicit base choice, top and bottom box nets, means, margins of error, bases per statement and sorting by top box. A tracker mode shows the change since the previous wave, a Group field turns the battery into sections with pooled score bars, and a Benchmark measure shows the delta against your norm.

    The premium tier adds the statistics: segments lettered A/B/C against each other on Kish effective bases, and tests of every statement against the rest of the battery, against your benchmark and against the previous wave. Every number is computed offline inside the visual, the methodology is published, and the engine is validated against R and scipy.

    Documentation

    Find the answer in the Likert docs.

    Search all visuals

    Free and premium

    Where the line is, exactly.

    Report authors see the full premium set in edit mode, so you can evaluate every feature on your own data before assigning a single licence. Unlicensed viewers always get a working chart.

    Free tierevery viewer
    • The best unweighted Likert rendering on the shelfNeutral auto-centred, custom or none; reverse scale; a collapsed disagree / neutral / agree view; N/A detached with in or out-of-base choice; % labels with a minimum-size threshold; sorting by top box; legend; bases (n=); means; margins of error; an All statements row.
    • Tracker modeAdd a Wave field and the bars show the latest wave with the change of every top box since the previous one.
    • Dimensions and benchmarksA Group field turns the battery into sections with pooled score bars; a Benchmark measure shows the delta against your norm on every statement; a Question Text field carries full wording into tooltips.
    • Says the findingA smart caption with the highest and lowest statement, the strongest dimension and what beats the norm; an agency footnote with base, weighted and effective n and source; Quick Styles.
    • Every cosmetic optionFour themes, fonts, positive / negative / neutral ramps, a colour swatch per answer named by the answer itself, corner radius, bar thickness and gaps between segments.
    Premium$1.99 /user/mo · first month free
    • Segment comparisonAdd a Segment field and every statement splits into groups lettered A/B/C against each other; low bases hatched, flagged with * and excluded from tests; the footer explains the letters.
    • Weighted resultsMap Sum of Weight and Sum of Weight squared and every percentage and test uses Kish effective bases.
    • Vs-total, vs-benchmark and wave testsEach statement's top box tested against the rest of the battery (up / down markers), against your norm (check mark) and against the previous wave, at 90, 95 or 99 % confidence.
    In depth

    Likert in Power BI, explained.

    Likert charts in Power BI: where the stacked bar goes wrong

    A Likert battery is usually drawn as a 100 percent stacked bar, and that is where the trouble starts. The neutral answer sits somewhere in the middle of the bar, so agree and disagree cannot be compared across statements. N/A answers are either dropped silently or counted in the base. And a battery of twenty statements sorted by data-load order is a wall, not a chart.

    SmartVisuals Likert draws the battery the way a research agency does: diverging bars centred on the axis with the neutral split in two, N/A detached to the side with an explicit in or out-of-base choice, top and bottom box nets at the ends, means on the scale, and sorting by top box so the strongest statement is at the top. Map Question, Answer and a Value; that is the whole setup.

    Neutral, N/A and reverse scales

    The neutral category can be auto-centred so half sits on each side of the axis, placed at a custom position, or removed from the diverging view. N/A is detached from the bar and you decide whether it counts in the base. If your answer codes run from agree to disagree, Reverse Scale Order flips the scale for the whole battery. Percent labels hide below a minimum segment size so a 2 percent slice does not print over its neighbour.

    A collapsed view reduces the scale to disagree / neutral / agree for executive audiences, and an All statements row summarizes the battery in one bar. Bases (n=), means and margins of error print per statement.

    Tracker mode, dimensions and benchmarks

    Add a Wave field and the bars show the latest wave, with the change of every top box since the previous one next to it. Add a Group field and the battery breaks into sections, Leadership, Tools, Workload, each with a pooled score bar as its header. Add a Benchmark measure and every statement shows its delta against your norm, and a Question Text field carries the full wording into tooltips when your question codes are short.

    Significance letters between segments

    Add a Segment field in the premium tier and every statement splits into groups lettered A/B/C against each other on weighted effective bases: a letter on a group's top box says it is significantly higher than the group carrying that letter. Low bases are hatched, flagged with an asterisk and excluded from testing, and the footer explains the letters.

    Three further tests run per statement: against the rest of the battery (up and down markers), against your benchmark (a check mark) and against the previous wave, at 90, 95 or 99 percent confidence. Map Sum of Weight and Sum of Weight squared and every percentage and test uses Kish effective bases.

    Says the finding, in your language

    The smart caption names the highest and lowest statement, the strongest dimension and what beats the norm, offline, localized, and read out by screen readers. The agency footnote prints base, weighted and effective n and source. Quick Styles switch the whole look between Agency deck, Executive summary and Compact tracker in one click, and every cosmetic option stays free: four themes, fonts, positive, negative and neutral ramps, a colour swatch per answer named by the answer itself, corner radius, bar thickness and gaps.

    Use cases

    Where Likert earns its place.

    Engagement battery grouped by dimension

    An HR team at Helios Manufacturing maps a short statement code to Question, the full wording to Question Text, the 5-point scale to Answer (scale) (ordered with Sort By Column), Count of RespondentID to Value and the section (Leadership, Tools, Safety) to Dimension / Group. Each section gets a header with its pooled score bar (Dimension Score Bars in the Dimensions card), the neutral answer straddles the center axis, and the full wording appears in tooltips and the caption. Sort Questions By set to Top box (high → low) in the Sorting card orders the sections and the statements inside them by top box.

    Supplier survey against an industry norm

    A procurement team maps Question, Answer (scale) and Value and adds a Benchmark (top box) measure that holds the industry norm as a fraction (0.62) or a percent (62). Benchmark Label in the Nets (Top/Bottom Box) card names it Industry norm, so each top box shows its difference from the norm, and N/A Answer Labels (comma-separated) set to Don't know in the Scale card moves those answers aside, out of the base while Include N/A in Base stays off. Show Margin of Error (±) and Show Mean (scale 1..k) in the Means card add the margin and the scale mean to each statement.

    Statements compared across departments (premium)

    An HR team maps Department to Segment (comparison), Sum of Weight to Value and SUM of the squared weights to Sum of Weight² (significance). Each statement splits into one bar per department, and with Confidence Level 95 % and Min Base for Testing 30 in Significance (Premium), a letter on a department's top box means it is significantly higher than the department carrying that letter. Hatch Low Bases marks departments below the minimum base, and Explain Letters in Footer prints the rule under the chart.

    Tested movement against last wave and the norm (premium)

    A CX team tracking a Helios Manufacturing service battery maps Wave / Period and a Benchmark (top box) measure, with no segment. With Test Top Box vs Total on in Significance (Premium), each statement's top box is tested against the other statements (▲ or ▼), against the norm (a ✓ next to the difference) and against the previous wave (a ✓ next to the change). Higher / Letters (empty = theme) and Lower (empty = theme) set the marker colors.

    Getting started

    From empty canvas to first chart.

    1. 01

      Map Question, Answer (scale) and Value (respondent count, or Sum of Weight for weighted results). Sort the answer field by column so the scale is in order.

    2. 02

      Choose the neutral handling, N/A base rule and sorting in the format pane, or pick a Quick Style.

    3. 03

      Add Wave / Period for tracker mode, Dimension / Group for sections and Benchmark (top box) for your norm.

    4. 04

      Add Segment (comparison) and Sum of Weight squared for lettered, weighted comparisons (premium).

    Get Likert

    Two ways in.

    Installation instructions for both paths are on the download page.

    Microsoft Marketplace (recommended)

    Reviewed by Microsoft, updates automatically, licences assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

    Open Microsoft Marketplace

    Direct download (1.0.1.0)

    .pbiviz package, import into Power BI Desktop or Service, does not auto-update. Includes the full free tier; premium features preview in edit mode and are licensed through Microsoft Marketplace.

    Download .pbiviz

    Sample report

    A Power BI project (.pbip, zipped) on Helios Manufacturing data, with Likert 1.0.1.0 inside. Unzip it and open the .pbip file in Power BI Desktop.

    Download sample
    Accessibility

    Readable and usable for everyone.

    Tab
    Moves into the chart. The whole visual is one tab stop, and focus lands on the first bar segment.
    Down arrow / Right arrow
    Moves to the next bar segment, answer by answer along a statement and then on to the next statement. Stops at the last segment.
    Up arrow / Left arrow
    Moves to the previous bar segment. Stops at the first segment.
    Page Down / Page Up
    Jumps ten segments forward or back.
    Home / End
    Jumps to the first or the last segment.
    Enter / Space
    Cross-filters the report to the focused segment.
    Ctrl+Enter / Ctrl+Space
    Adds the focused segment to the current selection instead of replacing it.
    Escape
    Clears the selection.

    • High contrast

      In Windows high contrast mode the bars, labels, legend, caption and footnote take the system foreground and background colours. Answers become shades between the two with an outline on every segment, and the transparent background and custom answer colours are switched off so nothing fades into the page.

    • Screen readers

      The chart is one labelled region whose name is the smart caption, for example the highest and lowest statement and what beats the norm, so a screen reader reads the finding first. Each bar segment carries a label with the statement, the answer and its share, such as Workload, Agree: 34%, and the full question wording is attached to each statement label.

    • Not colour alone

      Disagree answers sit left of the axis and agree answers right of it, so the direction reads from position. Changes and test results carry glyphs as well as colour: ▲ or ▼ for a change or a significant difference, ✓ for a significant result, letters for segment differences, and an asterisk plus hatching for a base too small to test.

    • Focus ring

      The focused segment gets a dashed outline in the text colour, and in a long battery the plot scrolls so the focused segment stays in view.

    • Languages

      English and Czech for the format pane, the smart caption, the footnote and the empty-state help. Other Power BI locales show the English strings.

    Release notes

    What changed, and when.

    Updates install automatically from Microsoft Marketplace. Full history.

    1. 1.0.1.0

      First release on Microsoft Marketplace.

      • Diverging Likert battery with neutral and N/A handling, nets and means; tracker mode.
      • Segment comparison with significance letters and weighted results (premium).
      • Right-click context menu on empty space.
    Questions

    Asked before you did.

    More questions? Write to us or search all the documentation.

    Three fields: Question (one row of the battery per statement), Answer (scale) with the scale's categories, and Value, a respondent count or a Sum of Weight measure. Long format works best, one row per respondent and statement. Dimension / Group, Question Text, Benchmark (top box), Wave / Period, Segment (comparison) and Sum of Weight² (significance) are optional.

    Neutral Handling in Format → Scale: Auto takes the middle answer of an odd scale and splits it across the axis, half on each side; Custom position lets you enter its place on the scale; No neutral removes it from the diverging view. Answers such as Don't know are detached from the bar once you list them in N/A Answer Labels, and Include N/A in Base decides whether they count in the base.

    The model sort order of the answer field. Use Sort By Column on the answer field so a 1 to 5 scale appears in order. If your codes run from agree to disagree, Reverse Scale Order flips the whole scale; it applies to every statement in the visual, not to single statements.

    With a Wave / Period field the bars show the last wave in the field's sort order, and each top box shows its change since the wave before it. Sort the wave field chronologically, for example by a date or a wave number.

    One top-box share per statement, as a proportion (0.62) or a percentage (62); values above 1 are read as percentages. Every statement then shows its delta against that norm, and the Benchmark Label setting names it in the caption and tooltips.

    Yes. Put a Sum of Weight measure in Value and every percentage, net and mean is weighted, in the free tier too. Map Sum of Weight² (significance), SUM of the squared weights, and margins of error and tests use Kish effective bases; that part is premium.

    A letter on a group's top box says it is significantly higher than the group carrying that letter, at the confidence level you chose (90, 95 or 99 %), tested on weighted effective bases. Groups below Min Base for Testing are hatched, flagged with * and excluded from the tests.

    No. The full battery with nets, means, margins of error, tracker deltas, dimensions, benchmark deltas, the smart caption, the footnote and every cosmetic option is free for every viewer. Segment comparison, effective bases from Sum of Weight² and the vs-total, vs-benchmark and wave tests need a per-user licence in reading view; in edit mode everything previews free. Where Power BI reports that licences cannot be checked, for example Report Server, the premium features stay on.

    Power BI hands the visual up to 10,000 rows, one per combination of the category fields you map (Question, Answer, Segment, Group, Question Text and Wave). If your data has more combinations, the visual shows Power BI's warning icon instead of silently leaving rows out. A long battery that does not fit the tile scrolls rather than squeezing rows.

    English and Czech for the format pane, the smart caption, the footnote and the empty-state help. Other Power BI locales show the English strings.

    No. The visual requests no network access, makes no external calls and keeps no data in the browser. Every statistic is computed inside the visual, and the licence check is done by Power BI itself.

    Use the Report a bug block on the support page, or write to hello@smartvisuals.io. A short description, your Power BI version and, if you can, a screenshot or a sample file help us reproduce it.
    Troubleshooting

    When it does not look right.

    Found a bug or missing something? Post it on the requests board or vote for what others asked; the developer answers within two business days.

    The scale is in the wrong order
    The visual uses the model sort order of the answer field. Set Sort By Column on the answer column (Column tools → Sort by column) to a numeric code so a 1 to 5 scale appears in order.
    The neutral answer is not centred
    Neutral handling is a format pane setting: auto-centred, a custom position or none. Auto takes the middle answer of an odd-length scale; an even scale has no neutral under Auto. For a non-standard neutral, set Neutral Handling to Custom position and enter its place on the scale (Neutral Position, 1-based).
    N/A answers change my percentages
    List your N/A answers (for example Don't know) in Format → Scale → N/A Answer Labels; they are then detached from the bar, and Include N/A in Base decides whether they count (in base or out of base). Pick the convention your report uses; the footnote prints the base either way.
    Significance letters do not appear
    Letters are a premium feature: they render in edit mode for everyone, but in reading view they need a per-user license. They also need a Segment (comparison) field, Test Top Box vs Total switched on in Significance, and a base at or above Min Base for Testing — groups below it are hatched, flagged with * and excluded on purpose.
    Premium features locked for a viewer
    Make sure the viewer has been assigned a license in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Billing → Licenses.
    Fields, settings & AI agents

    What goes in, and every setting.

    The fields Likert takes, with the GUID and internal names to add it to a report via PBIR or a report-authoring agent. Full catalog (JSON)

    Every field and format-pane setting Markdown for AI assistants
    Visual GUID
    likertChartC10A5AA51A7D4B5CACF036FDC102623C
    RoleDisplay nameKind
    questionQuestionGrouping
    answerAnswer (scale)Grouping
    valueValueMeasure
    segmentSegment (comparison)Grouping
    weightsqSum of Weight² (significance)Measure
    groupDimension / GroupGrouping
    questionTextQuestion TextGrouping
    benchmarkBenchmark (top box)Measure
    waveWave / PeriodGrouping
    Missing something?

    Tell us what is missing.

    A feature you need, a bug you hit, a visual that does not exist yet. Every message reaches the person who builds these visuals, and feature requests shape what ships next. We also build visuals to order.

    Write to usAsk about a custom visual
    Also in the family
    AI ChatbotFree, from $12 /moGantt Chart$2.99 /user/moRadar Chart$1.99 /user/moCohort Retention$1.99 /user/moNews TickerFreePareto Chart$1.99 /user/moCrosstab$1.99 /user/moNPS$1.99 /user/moSmartVisuals Research$4.49 /user/moCountdownFreeScoreboardFreeVenn & UpSet$2.99 /user/moSlope Chart$1.99 /user/moTornado$1.99 /user/moBullet Chart$1.99 /user/moKPI Weather$1.99 /user/moCalendar Heatmap$1.99 /user/moLeaderboard$2.99 /user/moDistribution$4.49 /user/moBox Plot$1.99 /user/moViolin$1.99 /user/moBeeswarm$1.99 /user/moHistogram$1.99 /user/moWaterfall & PVM$2.99 /user/moOrg Chart$2.99 /user/moDate Slicer$1.99 /user/moYear in Review$1.99 /user/moSplit-Flap BoardFreeData FreshnessFreeSankey$1.99 /user/moText Insights$2.99 /user/moProcess Metro Map$1.99 /user/moNewspaper$2.99 /user/moTimeline$1.99 /user/moTrading Cards$2.99 /user/moReceipt$1.99 /user/moTime Series$4.49 /user/moLine Chart$1.99 /user/moArea Chart$1.99 /user/moCombo Chart$1.99 /user/moSparklines$1.99 /user/moCandlestick$1.99 /user/mo