There are several chart options that empower user interaction in Looker Studio. In this post, I will explain some of them.
For the examples I will continue using the Top Movies 2019 dataset for the examples.
1. Optional Metrics
When creating visualisations, you may have noticed that within Set-up there is an option to add optional metrics. These allow users, including those viewing the report without editing privileges, to modify the metrics of the chart. Any changes made here will not affect the chart’s configuration; they will only modify the metric of the visualisation at the moment it is viewed. It won’t change the settings for other users.
If there are optional metrics, the below icon will appear in the upper right corner of the graph.
Clicking on it allows users to choose which metrics to display.
2. Metric Sliders
This functions as a filter to adjust the values users want to see in the graph. Within Set-up, you can enable metric sliders.
In this case, users will see the below icon in the upper right corner.
The following image shows an example of metric sliders with the number of movies (Record Count).
Note that this option is not available if optional metrics are enabled. Only one of the two can be enabled at the same time.
3. Interactive Graphs
I’ve saved this for last, but that doesn’t make it any less important. There are three types:
Cross-filtering
This is one of my favorite options. It allows you to filter the rest of the visualisations on the canvas by simply selecting a category within the graph that has the multi-filter enabled. For example, if you have a column chart by Top Genre 1, you can filter the other visualisations on the page by Animation if you select that column in your column chart.
The following graph has the multi-filter enabled. By selecting one of the values in my dimension (Animation), I will filter the other graphs on the page by the selected genre (Animation).
Change Order
If there is an icon with the letters A-Z in the upper right corner of the graph, it means that the user viewing the report can change how the visualisation is sorted using any of the metrics or dimensions of the chart. However, their changes will only modify what they see at that moment, not what other users see.
The option to change the order can be activated under Cross-filtering.
In this example, the upper icon with the letters A-Z allows changing the order of the graph’s data by Revenue or by Top Genre 1.
Zoom
If this option is enabled, you can zoom in on different parts of the graph, but it is not possible to use it if the multi-filter is activated. It is only available in bar and column graphs, combo charts, area charts, scatter plots, and time series.
Within Style, you can choose how the zoom is performed. Users can either click and drag to zoom in or just scroll.
I invite you to play with these options we’ve just covered, as they give the final user of the report greater interaction power. If you had to choose just one, which one would you say is your favorite?