Harvey Balls—those little circles partially filled to indicate qualitative ratings—are everywhere in competitive intelligence (CI). They show up in battlecards, evaluation matrices, analyst reports, and sales enablement decks. While they might look simple, anyone who's built or maintained a Harvey Ball diagram knows: they're deceptively high-effort, highly subjective, and often politically fraught.

But they’re also incredibly effective—when done right.

This post is a deep dive into how product marketing and competitive intelligence teams can use Harvey Balls effectively: what they are, why they’re useful, the pitfalls to avoid, and a step-by-step guide for building and maintaining them.

What Is a Harvey Ball Diagram?

A Harvey Ball diagram is a visual comparison tool where each item is rated across multiple categories using partially filled circles (Harvey Balls). Each fill level (e.g., ¼, ½, ¾, full) indicates a rough qualitative assessment—typically of feature strength, completeness, or fit.

Example:

(● = filled, ○ = empty. Usually implemented with visual icons or SVGs.)

Why Use Harvey Balls?

They're controversial—but popular—for good reason.

✅ Pros

• Easy to Scan: Visually intuitive and quickly digestible

• Useful in Sales: AEs and SEs love them because they support positioning in competitive deals

• Flexible: Can compare anything—product features, support, usability, etc.

• Compact: Packs a lot of qualitative insight into a small space

⚠️ Cons

• Subjective: There’s often no hard data backing the ball fills

• Politically Sensitive: Internal teams may push back if they feel misrepresented

• Hard to Maintain: Competitors launch features, messaging shifts, your product evolves—everything needs re-rating

Who Are Harvey Balls For?

Not everyone benefits equally. Here's who finds them most valuable:

How to Create a Harvey Ball Diagram (Step-by-Step)

1. Define the Purpose

Ask: What do we want to compare, and who is it for?
Example use cases:

• Battlecard for sales to position against Competitor A

• Internal feature comparison to shape messaging

• RFP response comparison matrix

Be clear on whether this is offensive (showing strengths) or defensive (mitigating perceived weaknesses).

2. Pick the Right Dimensions

Choose comparison dimensions based on what matters in real buying decisions. Use inputs like:

• Sales call analysis

• Win-loss interviews

• Customer onboarding feedback

• Analyst and review site comparisons

Group them into themes like:

• Core Features

• Integrations

• Usability

• Trust/Security

• Support

• Pricing/Flexibility

Pro tip: Avoid generic catch-alls like “Ease of Use” unless you can back them up.

3. Score Each Competitor

This is where the pain starts. You’ll need to:

• Research competitor documentation and demos

• Talk to SEs or sellers with field experience

• Reference call transcripts or CI platforms

• Review win/loss notes

Keep a consistent scale. Most teams use:

• ○○○○ = Not present / N/A

• ●○○○ = Minimal / Beta

• ●●○○ = Partial / Weak

• ●●●○ = Strong

• ●●●● = Best-in-class

And document the rationale behind each rating in your internal CI system—especially when you give yourself 4/4.

4. Review with Stakeholders

Loop in:

• Product teams (to ensure accuracy)

• Sales (to validate utility)

• Legal/comms (if external-facing)

Expect debate. That’s normal. The key is to have a consistent rubric and evidence backing up each dot.

5. Visualize and Distribute

Use a tool that supports visual consistency:

• Google Sheets (with emoji or image-based icons)

• Figma or Canva (for design polish)

• CI tools like Crayon, Klue, or Hindsight

Embed it where your teams live—Salesforce, Slack, battlecards, enablement wikis.

Maintaining Harvey Ball Diagrams

This is where most teams fail.

Common Challenges:

• Competitors release new features—fast

• Your product evolves but diagrams get stale

• Diagrams are copied to decks and forgotten

How to Keep Them Updated:

• Assign owners (PMM or CI lead)

• Set a quarterly refresh cadence

• Use call transcript intelligence or CI automation to alert you to changes

• Use a source-of-truth doc with rationale + last updated timestamp

Final Thoughts: Use Carefully, Use Consistently

Harvey Balls are one of those “use with caution” tools. They're not analytical rigor—but they are persuasive, especially in sales enablement. The key is transparency, consistency, and clear ownership.

If you're running CI or product marketing, you don’t need to ban them—but you do need to structure how you build and maintain them.

Tooling can make this easier. Looking for a template or AI tools that put this on autopilot? Give Hindsight a try!