The Bubble Chart plots components on a two-dimensional grid. Use fields on the components or on their references to set position, size, and color. It's a clear way to prioritize systems by business and technical fit, with cost or risk shown through bubble size.
What Is the Bubble Chart View?
The Bubble Chart displays components as data points on a two-dimensional grid. You can assign fields to the X and Y axes—for example, business fit vs. technical fit—while bubble size represents a third dimension, such as total cost of ownership or usage volume.
Values can come from the components or from the references that connect them.
It’s a highly effective view for:
Evaluating application portfolios
Identifying low-value, high-cost systems
Supporting rationalization, modernization, migration and investment discussions
Presenting findings in a stakeholder-friendly format through presentations
Analyzing risk, cost, or compliance held on references
Bubble Chart in Ardoq Solutions
Bubble Charts support several Ardoq Solutions, helping you assess risks, evaluate health, and prioritize improvements across your architecture.
Examples include:
Application Risk Management (ARM): Identify applications exceeding acceptable risk thresholds using Assessing Your Application Portfolio for Risks: Count Over Tolerance. Learn more.
Solution Health Check (SHC): Visualize and compare solution health to identify areas requiring attention. Learn more.
Enterprise AI Management (EAI): Explore AI assessment results to support evaluation and prioritization using AI Assessment – Assessment Result. Learn more.
Enterprise AI Governance (EAIG): Assess AI health and identify potential concerns using AI Health Check. Learn more.
These use cases can now be supported in Viewpoint Mode, helping you transition from legacy Workspace Mode while maintaining important assessment and decision-making workflows.
Why Use It?
This visualization supports a strategic shift away from the legacy Workspace (WS) mode, offering a more flexible and modern approach to analyzing your architecture.
Data-driven prioritizations
Visualize the trade-offs between value, cost, and risk. Identify what needs attention with minimal configuration.
Configurable and contextual
Assign list-based or numeric fields to axes and size. Adjust the view to fit the context of your portfolio or initiative. Use the data from Surveys by transforming your fields from text to numeric values.
Efficient stakeholder communication
Convey architectural insights clearly to both technical and business audiences—no need for external tools or manual formatting.
Use Reference Fields
Some of the most useful data lives on references, such as the annual cost of a contract or the exposure score from a risk assessment. The Bubble Chart can use these fields directly.
Set up the chart in the Bubble Chart settings panel, in this order:
Source of bubbles. Choose which components appear as bubbles.
Source of values. Choose what drives the values: all component types, one component type, or a reference.
X-axis, Y-axis, and Bubble size. Pick fields From component or Via reference. Incoming and outgoing references are listed, with empty ones at the end.
X-axis, Y-axis, and Bubble size stay greyed out until Source of values is set.
Show zero-size bubbles keeps components with no value visible on the chart. The toggle keeps its setting, even while greyed out.
Explore Insights Easily With the In-View Toolbar
The Bubble Chart toolbar gives you quick controls to adjust and explore your view without changing the underlying data.
Change bubble size — use the slider to scale all bubbles up or down, making it easier to read dense or sparse charts at a glance.
Zoom to quadrant — jump directly to a specific quadrant (Tolerate, Invest, Eliminate, or Migrate) to focus your analysis on one strategic area at a time.
Filter bubble names — reduce visual noise by hiding labels based on a field value. Bubbles remain visible on the chart; names reappear when you hover over them.
Zoom in/out — zoom into a specific area of the chart for a closer look, or zoom out to see the full picture.
Reset zoom — return to the default view instantly after zooming in or navigating to a quadrant.
Tips for Getting Started
Size bubbles by cost or usage to surface disproportionate investments or underutilized systems.
Conditional Formatting to making sure your analysis are coming across in a convincing way
Align formatting with your audience what resonates with IT may differ from what business leaders prioritize.
Make the view clearer: filter out unimportant labels directly in the view. Here's where to find it:
