Make the Data Speaks: Visualizing the Data Using Google Data Studio
Creating dashboard to visualize the data using Google Data Studio
Data visualization is vital to deliver the information so the reader can understand and make a decision using it. The bunch of data won’t tell an insightful story if it isn’t shown properly. Data Analyst plays a significant role in how to make the data speak. The process includes the way they simplify the data and choose a proper chart using an effective tool to produce a fruitful graph. All charts are then shown in a dashboard so the decision maker can easily see and make a decision.
This post will explain how we can utilize The Google Data Studio Platform to produce a dashboard. We will use an actual daily case in e-commerce. The Google Data Studio is an open-source platform that we can use to create various kinds of data visualization. It is also as powerful as any other platform. The platform is commonly used because of its ease of use and integrity with various data types. I assume that you are done with the data preparation, including the data import.
Case#1: Using Scorecard to Show Some Numbers
In a report, we commonly see some big numbers represent some data. The big number was presented for some reasons. It makes the reader easily take a conclusion, especially for a vital data report. In this case, we want to show some big numbers using a scorecard in the Google Data Studio. We want to know how much the “Total Viewers”, “Total Buyers”, “Total Add-to-Cart”, and “Total Revenue” from the event_type.
- First, we need to add the scorecard chart to the dashboard.
Add the scorecard by clicking the “Add a chart” toolbar and choose the Scorecard chart. Drag the cursor in an empty area and release the click to show the data.
2. Setting up The Data Content
After we add the scorecard chart, Google Data Studio will show an automatic data record count from the database. We need to change the data content based on the given condition. We can change the data content by choosing the table column in the metrics field.
3. Showing the Numbers
There are two ways to shows the number in Google Data Studio. First, we can add the filter, and second by making a calculation field. To set a filter, we can scroll down in the chart setup and click the filter button, then create a filter. You can adjust the condition based on the criteria. For this case we only want to show the records with “purchase” value in the event_type column. Therefore we need to set up the criteria as below.
After setting up the filter, we need to change the metrics setting to be “Count Distict” as below. You can also set the name of the scorecard chart.
By following the steps, you’ll get the output result as below.
The other ways to set up the scorecard chart is by making a calculated field. Calculated field is an addition field that’s created by a function. You can add the calculated field by clicking the “add a field” button on the sidebar.
After clicking the toolbar, you’ll see some form fields and we need to fill the form with a function. To show the unique number of total buyers we can use the below code.
COUNT_DISTINCT(case when event_type="purchase" then user_id else NULL END)
Once we have done making the calculated field, we can add the calculated field to the metric field as aforementioned above. In the case 1, we are asked to show some scorecard data, after we create the filter or the calculated field, the scorecard chart will be shown as below.
Case#2: Showing the Daily Number for All Event Type
For this case, we need to show the daily number of every event using a line chart. By following the same step in case#1, we can show the data daily. For this case, we need to choose the line chart type in the chart type menu. And then, we set up the data metrics on the sidebar. Data dimension need to be filled with “event_date” so we can see the list of all unique dates on the X axis and the “Record count” as the metrics (Y axis). Since we’re asked to show every event type, the line chart must show three different lines. To perform this, we need to add the breakdown dimension, which is “event_type”. You can see the setup below.
After we run the setup, the output line chart must be similar to the shown data below.
From the chart we can conclude that the “view” event_type become the highest daily user activity along the month.
Conclusion
Google Data Studio is a powerful tool that we can use to build a dashboard for the Data Visualization. There are plenty of features that we can explore to create a better data visualization. As a Data Analysts, we need to understand that data has no meaning when we can’t tell the story inside it.
*Writer is not mastering English as his first language therefore some unexpected mistakes may exist. Feel free to give some comments and advice for better writing.