Immediately, I noticed the usage of doughnut charts to display project status. Suboptimal visualisations significantly impede the adoption/market differentiatio

Immediately, I noticed the usage of doughnut charts to display project status. Suboptimal visualisations significantly impede the adoption/market differentiation of task and project management solutions and hamper their usability, once adopted. I thought about what I might want in such an 'at a glance' widget. TL;DR: https://i.imgur.com/hFpftp7.png https://i.imgur.com/hFpftp7.png I suggest a vertical stream chart with a top legend (keeping the legend to one line, abbreviating the status labels to save horizontal space if needed but expanding them on mouse-over). In order to emphasise the present status, a stacked horizontal bar chart placed immediately before the stream chart but after the legend emphasises the current state. The inclusion of a stream graph along with a stacked horizontal chart maintains the square overall shape of the widget and the design's present temporal focus. Colour variations can use the second dimension to represent changes in velocity on a per category basis further increasing the information economy of the design, without cluttering its appearance. However, usage of space in the suggested design is much improved. In using the same quantity of space as the presented widget, the presented design communicates the current state, as well as, a large chunk of the projects history with an emphasis on the near past. Increasing the interactivity of the visualisation is a natural thought. Such additions might include a contextual (mouse over or fade discover) highlight on the chart (milestones/releases, key dates). Perhaps a forecast feature allowing you to mouse over the chart and using the (mouse wheel nudge or touch drag) into the future. If you (pinch zoom or mousewheel) a past area the graph could rescale to emphasise that point in time. In short, a bit more attention to the visualisation design would yield a much more substantial and powerful widget without increasing cognitive load and complexity on the user's part of the interaction. I think that, with a bit of focus, a well designed information retrieval and processing platform for project planning and management could easily differentiate itself in the marketplace even in the presence of gratis competition.