In business and data work, being able to present information clearly and visually is essential, and Looker Studio is a capable tool for the job. In this article, I’ll go through useful methods and tips so you can create charts on Looker Studio effectively and get real practical value out of them in your work.
Create a chart on Looker Studio
You need to add a data source to Looker Studio before you can create a chart. The Looker Studio toolbar gives you several ways to create a chart:
Method 1: Click Add a chart and select the chart you need.
Method 2: Click Insert and select the chart you need.
Method 3: Click the Community Visualizations icon and select the chart you need.
If you don’t know which chart to choose, read the article about choosing the right chart for your data.
Change dimensions and metrics
To change the fields used as dimensions and metrics on Looker Studio, just drag the field you want into the dimension or metric area. You can drop it on top of an existing field to replace it. Depending on the chart, the dimension or metric area may or may not accept multiple fields.
Note: If your data has many date fields, select a suitable field for the Date Range Dimension. When you use a Date range control as a filter, the chart will be filtered by the dates in that field.
Sort data
By default, Looker Studio sorts the dimension (x-axis) by the metric in descending order, which is useful when you want to view the chart as a ranking. In other cases, such as data over time, you can change how the chart is sorted to make it more suitable.
Set up drill down for the chart
You don’t need to create the same chart several times just to change one dimension. Use the drill down feature, which lets viewers switch dimensions by hovering over the chart, for example to view the chart by day, week or month. However, you’ll need to show your viewers how to use drill down.
Set up a breakdown dimension
A breakdown dimension lets you compare data by each sub-category within any dimension. It helps you see how much each category contributes to the total.
Format the chart
This section lets you restyle the chart to match your taste. The options vary depending on the chart. Some of the ones you’ll use most often are:
- Color.
- Font.
- Background color.
- Borders and shadows.
- Data labels (the number on each data point).
- X-axis and y-axis titles.
- Grand total for a Table.
Conditional formatting
If you create a Table on Looker Studio, conditional formatting helps viewers focus on the rows that need attention and spot anomalies quickly.
In my work, I’ve found that while charts make dashboards come alive, Tables, and especially Pivot tables, are still necessary for viewers to explore the data in more detail. See also how to create a percentage of column pivot table in Looker.
Add separate filters if necessary
A chart-level filter only applies to one chart and doesn’t affect the others. It’s very useful when, for example, you want a separate chart for one city or you want to remove NULL values.
Conclusion
There are still many other chart settings on Looker Studio for you to explore on your own, but what I’ve covered above is enough for you to build plenty of professional charts on your dashboard. What matters most is your sense of design and how you combine charts with other elements such as Text, Rectangle and Image.
