hub-spoke

When to use

• The structure is the claim. A program office and its workstreams, a platform and its partners, a hub warehouse and the regions it serves. Six to eight satellites read best; twelve is the cap.
• Status on a structure. Mark the off-track spokes with a status pill (at-risk, blocked). Only those spokes change: a halo, a heavier edge, the state color and the spoken word. Nothing else recedes, so the rest of the structure still reads.
• Concentration, with the number printed. Add sized to scale disc AREA by value and print each share beside its disc (28%). Area comparison is weak, so the printed number carries the claim; past eight satellites use bar.
• What flows to and from a center. Add flow-out, flow-in or flow-both to draw arrowheads and step the connector weight by value in four classes. Mark an exception on one spoke with a flow:in pill.
• Two levels, kept small. Add tiered to hang leaves off each satellite: up to 6 branches and 18 leaves. Each branch takes its own hue, so the branch is the group.

When not to use

• A ranking or a share. If the point is who is biggest, or how a total splits, use bar or stacked-bar. A length compares far better than a disc, and sized is a supporting cue here, not the evidence.
• A network, not a star. Hub-spoke draws one center and its spokes. If the satellites connect to each other, or there are several centers, use diagram (Mermaid) for the graph.
• A hue per satellite. Satellites are neutral on purpose: each one has its name beside it, so a color per satellite adds nothing and past six it invents false groups. Group them with a pill only when the grouping is part of the claim.
• A process in order. Steps that happen one after another are a sequence, not a hub. Use list-steps, funnel or timeline-list.

Common mistakes

• Two top-level items, or the satellites written at the top level. Write ONE top-level item (the hub) and nest every satellite under it.
• A group name that starts with a digit (3PL, 5G). The family reads a pill that starts with a digit as a value. Spell the group out (Third-party logistics, Cellular).
• A group named with a status word (Live, Pilot, Done). Status words mark a spoke's state and paint a state color. Name groups with other words.
• Two value pills on one satellite ($18M 28%). A spoke prints ONE value. Put the second figure in the satellite's detail sublist.
• sized with a missing, zero or negative value, or values in two units. Sizing needs every satellite to carry a positive value in one unit; otherwise it switches off and the linter says why.

Authoring

<!-- _class: hub-spoke -->

`Eyebrow · context`

## What the structure shows.

- Hub
  - First satellite
  - Second satellite `at-risk`
  - Third satellite
  - Fourth satellite

Slots

Data shape

• Author satellites in the order you want them read: the first sits at about one o'clock and the rest run clockwise.
• Keep satellite names short — up to 40 characters at seven spokes, 22 at twelve (20 or fewer on a portrait deck). A name wraps and never truncates. The linter also totals the rows the labels print (name lines, values, statuses): past 22 rows, or 24 at twelve spokes, hub-spoke-crowded warns that labels may fall back to a column with leaders.
• With tiered, keep leaf names to 14 characters and branch names to 16, and stay at 14 leaves or fewer for a layout the linter treats as proven; the kernel still draws up to 18. When a branch name has no clear lane beside its disc, the branch names move into a key band under the figure.
• Keep the hub name under about 40 characters and its value under 12. The hub never outgrows three times the largest satellite; long text shrinks instead, and past the smallest type the linter flags it.
• Satellite values under sized should share one unit and be positive; the hub value is not drawn to scale, and the linter warns only when the satellites add up to MORE than the hub.
• Under a marks: (pigment, etch or tone), the finish repaints the group discs, the key and a status disc's level; the hub and neutral satellites carry no color, so they stay as drawn. Under tone a group's connectors, arrowheads and names join the one hue with its discs. On a slide with groups, pigment and tone draw the hub in the full heading ink, so no group disc reaches the hub's lightness.

Anatomy

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  header                                 │
│            Structure heading            │
│                                         │
│       Name  (o)        (o)  Name        │
│                 \  ___  /               │
│       Name (o)--( HUB )--(o) Name       │
│                 /  ---  \               │
│       Name  (o)        (o)  Name        │
│  footer                           1/19  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Variant decision rule

• default (no modifier) — The structure is the claim and the values, if any, are subtext: every satellite prints its name, value and status, and nothing scales.
• sized — Each value belongs to its satellite (revenue per partner, headcount per team) and concentration is part of the story. Every satellite needs a positive value in one unit, at most 8 of them. Print shares when the comparison matters.
• flow-out — The value moves FROM the hub along each spoke (shipments out, budget allocated). Heads point at the satellites and connector weight steps by value in four classes.
• flow-in — The value moves TO the hub (feeds in, revenue collected). Heads point at the hub.
• flow-both — The value is traded both ways along every spoke (tickets raised and resolved).
• tiered — Each satellite has its own small set of children that belong on the slide: up to 6 branches and 18 leaves. Values print but do not scale.

Variants

<!-- _class: hub-spoke sized -->

`FY2026 · Partner channel revenue · share of $120M`

## Two partners carry half of channel revenue.

- Channel revenue `$120M`
  - Atlas Distribution `28%`
  - Keystone Resellers `22%`
  - Northgate Systems `18%`
  - Brightline Retail `13%`
  - Summit Online `11%`
  - Harborview Telecom `8%`

<!-- _class: hub-spoke flow-out -->

`Memphis distribution center · Pallets per week`

## The Northeast and Southeast take over half of outbound volume.

- Memphis DC `12,000`
  - Northeast `3,600`
  - Southeast `3,100`
  - Midwest `2,400`
  - Southwest `1,700`
  - West `1,200`
  - Returns center `400` `flow:in`

<!-- _class: hub-spoke flow-in -->

`Data platform · Records ingested per day`

## Billing and the web store send two thirds of what the lake takes in.

- Data lake `45M`
  - Billing `16M`
  - Web store `14M`
  - Mobile app `8M`
  - Call center `4M`
  - Partner feeds `3M`

<!-- _class: hub-spoke flow-both -->

`Shared services · Tickets per month`

## Finance and HR trade the most work with the service desk.

- Service desk `9,400`
  - Finance `2,900`
  - HR `2,600`
  - Facilities `1,500`
  - Legal `1,300`
  - Procurement `1,100`

<!-- _class: hub-spoke tiered -->

`Platform organization · Service ownership · 2026`

## Four platform teams own eleven services; two are in trouble.

- Platform org
  - Payments
    - Card issuing
    - Acquiring
    - Fraud scoring `at-risk`
  - Data
    - Warehouse
    - Streaming
    - ML platform
  - Identity
    - Login
    - Consent
  - Core banking
    - Ledger `blocked`
    - Accounts
    - Statements

Related

• barthe claim is a ranking — lengths compare better than areas
• stacked-barthe claim is how one total splits into shares
• piechartthree to six shares of one whole, and the proportion is the story
• diagramthe satellites connect to each other, or there is more than one center
• state-chartthe arrows are transitions between states, not flows to a center