Dashboards often need to present quick insights without consuming too much screen space. That is where spark charts excel: small, data-dense visuals that fit perfectly into compact UI areas like mobile cards or list items. In this post, we will build a restaurant management dashboard in .NET MAUI using the Syncfusion .NET MAUI Toolkit Spark Charts. We will incorporate four compact trend charts, a KPI radial gauge, and a CollectionView for detailed data, all while keeping the UI clean, responsive, and performant.
A spark chart (also called a sparkline or micro chart) is a minimalist visualization that typically omits axes and labels, focusing instead on the shape of a trend over time or across categories. Its key advantages include:
- Space efficiency: Fits inside cards, headers, or table cells without clutter.
- Quick trend recognition: Helps users see upward or downward movement at a glance.
- Ideal for dashboards: Perfect for mobile or compact layouts where space is limited.
The Syncfusion .NET MAUI Toolkit is an open-source library that delivers high-quality controls optimized for mobile dashboards. Among its offerings is the Spark Chart, designed for lightweight, trend-focused visualizations. Available Spark Chart types:
- Line
- Column
- Area
- Win/Loss
Each type supports customization options like markers and point highlighting (first, last, high, low) to make trends even clearer.
- Versatile chart types: Choose from Line, Column, Area, and Win/Loss to match your data story.
- Smart point highlighting: Draw attention to critical data points such as first, last, high, and low.
- Compact and lightweight: Perfect for embedding inside cards, grids, or any tight UI space without sacrificing clarity.
Today we are going to visualize four compact trends that provide quick insights into restaurant operations:
- Daily Sales (₹): Displayed using a Spark Line chart for the last 14 days.
- Orders Count: Represented with a Spark Column chart by day.
- Average Prep Time (mins): Shown as a Spark Area chart to highlight the magnitude of changes.
- Delivery Success (Win/Loss): Illustrated with a Win/Loss series where +1 indicates success and −1 indicates an issue.
If you are facing a "Path too long" exception when building this example project, close Visual Studio and rename the repository to a shorter name before building the project.
For a detailed step-by-step guide with relevant code snippets, refer to the .NET MAUI Toolkit Spark Chart to Visualize a Restaurant Management Dashboard Blog.
