The way people encounter information has changed. In a 2025 Pew Research Center survey*, 80% of U.S. adults aged 18–29 said they use Instagram, compared with 19% of adults aged 65 and older. Visual formats are a familiar part of everyday life for many younger people. But that statistic does not tell us that Gen Z understands charts better, or that Millennials would rather read a spreadsheet.
At work, the more interesting difference is often between questions, not generations.
A Scrum Master might want to see where work tends to slow down. A Jira administrator might need to check the exact duration for one work item. A delivery manager might want a clear comparison to discuss with stakeholders. The same person can need all three views in a single meeting.
Research* comparing tables, line charts, bar charts, scatterplots, and pie charts found that their effectiveness varies with the task and the data. In other words, there is no single best way to display a report. That is especially true for a Jira time in status report.
(* - Pew Research Center, Americans’ Social Media Use 2025 — reports Instagram use among 80% of U.S. adults aged 18–29 and 19% of those aged 65 and older.
Saket, Endert, and Demiralp, Task-Based Effectiveness of Basic Visualizations — compares tables and chart types across analytical tasks and finds that effectiveness depends on the task and data)
The table shows what happened. A chart helps you see the pattern
To calculate time in status in Jira, you need the timestamps of a work item’s status transitions. The time between entering and leaving a status gives you one interval; if the work item returns to that status, its visits can be included in the total.
A Time in Status table makes those durations inspectable. You can find a work item, check its exact time in Review or Testing, sort the results, and see which rows need closer attention.
Now imagine a report with 150 work items and columns for Development, Review, Testing, and Blocked. The table contains the answers, but it can take a while to notice the overall shape:
- Is Review slow for most work items, or only a few?
- Does one project spend more time Blocked than another?
- Is Testing time increasing across reporting periods?
- Which status should the team discuss in its next retrospective?
A chart makes a comparison or trend easier to spot. The table then lets you test that first impression against the underlying work items. Neither replaces the other.
Create a Jira chart from the cells you’re investigating
Today, Time in Status by SaaSJet offers four chart types with limited customization. We’re working on a new chart-building experience that will give users more ways to visualize their table view reports.
The interaction will be familiar to anyone who has made a chart in a spreadsheet: select the cells you want to explore, then create a chart through the cell actions. Users will also be able to create charts through chart settings.
Suppose you notice several large values in the Review column. You could select the relevant data and create a chart to compare it across work items. Then you could create another chart from the same report to examine a different question—perhaps how Review and Testing time compare for a particular group of work items.
Multiple charts can be created for one table view report, and the system will preserve their state. You won’t need to recreate your analytical views every time you return to the report.
More ways to visualize time in status
The upcoming release will include a wider chart selection. For time in status data, useful options include:
- Bar and column charts to compare durations across statuses, projects, or work items.
- Stacked charts to show how workflow stages contribute to total time.
- Line and area charts to track changes across reporting periods.
- Histograms and box plots to examine typical durations, variation, and outliers.
- Scatter and bubble charts to explore relationships between workflow measures.
- Heatmaps to highlight where long durations concentrate.
- Pie, donut, treemap, and sunburst charts to explore time proportions and grouped data.
Create several charts from the same report to examine different questions, then return to the table to check the values behind each pattern.
More charts should mean better questions, not more decoration
A useful custom chart for Jira starts with what you are trying to learn.
If you want to… | Start with… |
|---|
Compare time across statuses or groups | A bar or column chart |
See whether a metric changes over time | A line or area chart |
Look for unusual work items or relationships | A scatter chart |
Verify the duration and context of a specific work item | The table |
For example, a chart may show that Testing accounts for a large share of status time. That is a reason to investigate, not yet a diagnosis. When you return to the table, you might find that most work items move through Testing quickly while three remained there for days. Or you might find that long Testing times are common across the report.
Those findings call for different conversations. The chart tells you where to look; the rows help you understand what happened.
The calculation matters, too. A sum, an average, and a median can tell different stories about the same status. Before sharing a Jira chart, check which measure it displays and whether a few outliers are shaping the result.
From investigation to a Jira dashboard
Our aim is to make path shorter: start with a Jira time in status report, turn the relevant data into a visual, check the evidence, and share a view that helps others ask better questions.
Custom charts for Time in Status are coming soon. As we prepare the release, we’d love to hear what you would build first: a comparison of workflow stages, a trend over time, or a chart for a question your current Jira reports cannot easily answer?
