quadrant

When to use

• Two numeric axes carry the analysis. Effort × impact, cost × value, probability × severity, reach × confidence. Both axes are continuous and the position on each genuinely matters — that's the argument quadrant is built to make.
• Categorical grouping clusters the dots. Items grouped under list headings (Strategic Bets, Quick Wins, Defer, Time Sinks) share a color, so the eye can read the cluster before the individual point. The grouping is editorial, not derived from coordinates.
• Six to twelve items. Below six the chart wastes the canvas — write it as prose. Past twelve the labels overlap and the quadrant becomes a constellation. Trim the long tail or break it across two slides.

When not to use

• Static categorical 2×2. If the quadrants are fixed labels (Important × Urgent, Build × Buy × Partner × Defer) and items are placed by category not coordinate, use matrix-2x2. quadrant is data-driven; matrix-2x2 is conceptual.
• Single axis matters. If one axis is decorative and only the other carries meaning, you have a ranking, not a scatter. Use progress for percent-complete or kpi for ranked metrics with status.
• Coordinates without an audience-shared scale. If {8, 80} requires a footnote to interpret, the slide doesn't pay off. Either give each axis its domain in the axis list — the [{Effort, 0..10}, {Reach, 0..100}] line above every slide here — or normalize to a familiar scale before authoring.

Common mistakes

• Under magic, expecting the group heading text to move an item into that quadrant. Placement is driven entirely by the item's {x, y} point — the group heading is an editorial label only; an item whose coordinates don't fall in the region a heading like 'Leaders' implies still renders wherever its numbers place it.
• Reading a name as belonging to the dot nearest it. Follow the hairline where there is one. A crowded corner pushes names one or two rings out from their own dot, and a leader is drawn for exactly that case — a name with no line is sitting against the dot it names.

Authoring

<!-- _class: quadrant -->

`[{Effort, 0..10}, {Reach, 0..100}]`

## Where to put the next dollar, having spent the last one on a workshop.

Effort estimated in story-points; reach as percent of addressable teams.

- Strategic Bets
  - Scoring model v2 `{3, 70}`
  - Per-team calibration `{5, 85}`
- Quick Wins
  - Weekly signal brief `{8, 80}`
  - Snapshot exports `{9, 55}`
- Defer
  - Vendor scoping `{2, 30}`
  - Manual recalibration `{1, 22}`
- Time Sinks
  - Custom audit log UI `{7, 18}`
  - Bespoke board export `{9, 28}`

Slots

Data shape

• An item is ONE inline-code point — Label — {x, y} as ` {3, 70} , or {3, 70, size=2.4} under bubble — EXCEPT trail, which needs TWO points ( {5, 60} {3, 78} , from-position then to-position); splitting a non-trail` item's coordinates into two chips silently zeroes the second axis instead of erroring.
• The axis list is not just a label — a member's domain SETS the scale ({Effort, 0..10} fixes it instead of deriving it from the data), and its optional third part is that axis's threshold, which threshold draws as a cutoff line ([{Effort, 0..10, 5}, {Reach, 0..100, 50}]); omit either and the chart falls back to a data-derived scale / a midpoint threshold. The retired arrow eyebrow (Effort 0–10 → Reach 0–100) now renders as a plain eyebrow — lint:deck flags it and rewrites it.

Anatomy

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  header                                 │
│         Quadrant chart heading          │
│                                         │
│    high ▲    ◆       ◆                  │
│         │ ◆    ●                        │
│         │       ●  ◆                    │
│         │  ●         ●                  │
│     low └──────────────►                │
│           low        high               │
│  footer                           1/19  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Variant decision rule

• default (no modifier) — Each item is a single, current position on the two axes — the plain scatter.
• bubble — A third numeric dimension (size, cost, headcount) should scale each point's radius, not just its x/y position.
• trail — Items have moved — the story is the delta from a prior position to now, shown as a dashed connector line between a faded before-dot and a solid after-dot.
• cohort — The categorical grouping itself, not the axes, is what the audience should color-scan first.
• threshold — Specific numeric cutoffs on each axis are the point — draws the actual threshold lines instead of leaving the quadrant split purely visual.
• magic — The four quadrants have established, named archetypes (Leaders/Challengers/Visionaries/Niche Players) worth labeling explicitly, Gartner-style.
• minimal — The quadrant tint fields, bubble fills, and cohort hull shading would distract — strips them to outlined points, while axis labels and threshold lines stay visible.

Variants

<!-- _class: quadrant bubble -->

`[{Effort, 0..10}, {Reach, 0..100}]`

## bubble sizes each point by a third value.

- Strategic Bets
  - Scoring model v2 `{3, 70, size=2.4}`
  - Per-team calibration `{5, 85, size=4.1}`
- Quick Wins
  - Weekly signal brief `{8, 80, size=0.9}`
  - Snapshot exports `{9, 55, size=0.6}`
- Defer
  - Vendor scoping `{2, 30, size=0.4}`
- Time Sinks
  - Custom audit log UI `{7, 18, size=1.3}`

<!-- _class: quadrant trail -->

`[{Effort, 0..10}, {Reach, 0..100}]`

## trail shows where each point moved from.

- Strategic Bets
  - Scoring model v2 `{5, 60}` `{3, 78}`
  - Per-team calibration `{7, 70}` `{5, 88}`
- Quick Wins
  - Snapshot exports `{9, 45}` `{8, 62}`
- Time Sinks
  - Custom audit log UI `{6, 25}` `{7, 16}`

<!-- _class: quadrant cohort -->

`[{Effort, 0..10}, {Reach, 0..100}]`

## cohort colors the points by group.

- Strategic Bets
  - Scoring model v2 `{3, 70}`
  - Per-team calibration `{5, 85}`
- Quick Wins
  - Weekly signal brief `{8, 80}`
  - Snapshot exports `{9, 55}`
- Defer
  - Vendor scoping `{2, 30}`
  - Manual recalibration `{1, 22}`
- Time Sinks
  - Custom audit log UI `{7, 18}`
  - Bespoke board export `{9, 28}`

<!-- _class: quadrant threshold -->

`[{Effort, 0..10, 5}, {Reach, 0..100, 50}]`

## threshold draws the lines that matter.

- Strategic Bets
  - Scoring model v2 `{3, 70}`
  - Per-team calibration `{5, 85}`
- Quick Wins
  - Weekly signal brief `{8, 80}`
- Defer
  - Vendor scoping `{2, 30}`
- Time Sinks
  - Custom audit log UI `{7, 18}`

<!-- _class: quadrant magic -->

`[{Completeness of vision, 0..100}, {Ability to execute, 0..100}]`

## magic names all four quadrants.

- Challengers
  - Productboard `{30, 82}`
- Leaders
  - Sprig + Log `{85, 88}`
  - Chorus `{72, 76}`
- Niche Players
  - Notion build-out `{25, 28}`
- Visionaries
  - Spreadsheet `{82, 34}`

<!-- _class: quadrant minimal -->

`[{Effort, 0..10}, {Reach, 0..100}]`

## minimal strips the chart to its points.

- Strategic Bets
  - Scoring model v2 `{3, 70}`
  - Per-team calibration `{5, 85}`
- Quick Wins
  - Weekly signal brief `{8, 80}`
  - Snapshot exports `{9, 55}`
- Defer
  - Vendor scoping `{2, 30}`
- Time Sinks
  - Custom audit log UI `{7, 18}`

Related

• matrix-2x2the 2×2 is categorical, not coordinate-based
• radaritems rated across more than two criteria
• progresspercent-complete on a single axis
• piechartpart-to-whole, not bivariate position
• verdict-gridcomparing options against shared categorical criteria