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Data Analysis and Dashboards With Google Data Studio
Data Analysis and Dashboards With Google Data Studio
By
Ian Littlejohn
www.datainsighttraining.com
Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Understanding the Google Sheet Data Set
Scorecards
Filters
Styles
Filtering Scorecards
Tables
Formatting the Table
Display Previous Periods
Creating YTD, MTD and Other Time Intelligence
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Scatterplot
Scatterplots with Filters
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Introduction
Welcome to the Data Analysis and Dashboards with Data Studio course. We are
very excited to teach you how to use Data Studio to analyze the data in your Google
Sheets spreadsheets.
In this course we are going to teach you how to create reports, graphs and
interactive dashboards from your Google Sheets data. We will be using a Sales data
set as an example for the course.
Google Data Studio is still a very new product. Launched in 2016 Data Studio brings
the ease of use, collaboration and sharing that has made Google products so
powerful. Data Studio also runs completely in the cloud which makes any updates
easy to implement and distribute to users.
The following rules should be used for setting up your data source in Google Sheets:
1. Each column is a field - Use a meaningful name for the field
2. Each row is a record i.e. in this case the record is a sales order
3. Do not include any subtotals or grand totals in your data source - just have the
data
4. Make sure your data types are correct - Text, Numeric and Date
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Keep the default options selected and click on Connect. Data Studio will create a
live connection to the Google Sheet.
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
The visualizations are displayed on the canvas. The properties for each of the
visualizations are displayed on the right hand side of the canvas. The properties are
divided into Data and Style.
Initially the properties for the canvas are displayed. These are Theme and Layout.
The Layout properties control elements such as the size of the canvas and how you
navigate the dashboard when it is displayed in View mode.
The Theme settings allow you to change the default colours and settings for the
report.
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Analyzing Data
In this first example we are going to ask some questions of our data. We are going
to use the Table visualization to display the results.
1. Draw the Table visualization on the canvas
2. What is the Total Sales by Region?
3. What is the Total Sales by Customer Name?
The Table Properties is opened. Select the Data properties:
Google Data Studio does allow you to use more than one Data Source. In this
course we will be using just one Data Source.
Dimension are the method that we analyze and understand data. Change the
Dimension to Region.
Metrics are the method that understand numeric data. Change the Metric to Sales
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Answer the following questions:
1. Which Customer Name has the highest Sales?
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Scorecards
Scorecards are useful visualizations for displaying Key Metrics or KPIs (Key
Performance Indicators). The Scorecard only displays one Metric.
1. Delete the Tables from the canvas
2. Create a Scorecard visualization
3. Change the Metric to Sales
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
1. Select the Sales field and click on the ellipses next to the field
2. Select D uplicate
3. Select the Copy of Sales field - Change the name to Avg Sales and the
aggregation to Average
4. Repeat the process and name the field Highest Sale - use the Max
aggregation
5. Repeat the process again and name the field Lowest Sale - use the Min
aggregation
6. Click Done
7. Create 3 new Scorecards to display the results
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Create the following fields and display the results using Scorecards::
1. Average Profit
2. Highest Profit
3. Lowest Profit
4. Average Quantity
5. Highest Quantity
6. Lowest Quantity
7. Number of Products
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Custom Calculations
Custom calculations allow us to create new calculations and ratios that are not
currently in the data set, but can be calculated from the metrics within the data set.
The first example is a Profit Ratio. The Profit Ratio is calculated by dividing the Total
Profit by the Total Sales. The ratio is displayed as a percentage.
1. Create a New Scorecard
2. Create a New Metric
3. Create a New Calculation - Click on the +
4. Profit Ratio - Profit / Sales
5. Click on Create Field
6. Format as Percentage
The new Metric is created. Change the scorecard to display the Profit Ratio.
Practical Activity
Create the following custom calculations and display the results using Scorecards:
1. Average Sales per Customer - Sales / No of Customers
2. Average Profit per Customer - Profit / No of Customers
3. Average Sales per Product - Sales / No of Products
4. Average Profit per Product - Profit / No of Products
5. Create Scorecards for each of the Metrics
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Please create the following tables and display the results on the canvas:
1. Customer Segment in Dimension
2. Metrics
a. Sales
b. No of Customers
c. Average Sale per Customer
d. Profit Ratio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
The Date Picker Filter is extremely versatile and provides a large number of options.
For example:
● Between any Date
● Last 7 days
● Last 14 days
● This Month
● Last Month
● This Year
Create a Date Picker Filter and experiment with different date ranges. Please note
that the dates in the data source are fixed so results maybe different to the
screenshots in the training. Also the relative dates such as Last 7 days or 14 days
probably will not have any data to display.
1. Select the Sales Scorecard
2. Change to Previous Period
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Create comparisons for the following Scorecard Metrics
● Profit
● Shipping Cost
● Order Quantity
● No of Transactions
● Average Sales per Customer
● Average Sales per Product
Experiment with Show Absolute Change and changing the Date Picker Filter.
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Filters
The ability to filter data and visualizations is one of the most powerful features of
Data Studio. Filters allow interactive dashboards and reports to be created with
ease.
1. Create a Filter displaying the Region and the Metric Sales
iew
2. Click on V
Styles
The Style of the filter can be changed. An option also exists to make the Filter
expendable. This means that the content of the Filter will only be displayed if the
user clicks on the Filter.
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Answer the following questions using filters in combination with the Scorecard:
1. Create a filter for the Customer Segment
2. What is the Sales, Profit and Number of Customers for the Consumer
Customer Segment
2. What is the Sales, Profit, Average Sales and Average Profit per
Customer for Corporate Customer Segment and the Technology Product
Category
3. What is the Sales, Profit, Number of Transactions and Profit Ratio for the
Bookcases Product Sub Category
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Filtering Scorecards
In certain circumstances you may want to filter the data that appears in the
Scorecard. For example you may want to create Scorecards for each Product
Category Sales.
1. Create 3 Sales Scorecards
2. Select the Filter option
3. Click on Add a Filter
The Scorecards will display the Sales value according to the filter that has been
applied. Please note that filters can be saved and used for other visualizations.
Practical Activity
1. Create four Profit Scorecards - create the following filters
a. Customer Segment = Consumer
b. Product Category = Furniture and Customer Segment = Corporate
c. Customer State = New York
d. Region = South and Product Category = Technology
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Tables
As we have already seen Tables provide an easy method to display a multitude of
information.
For example we could create a Table that displays the following:
1. Draw a Table on the canvas
2. Product Category as the Dimension
3. Metrics
a. Sales
b. Profit
c. Highest Sale
d. Lowest Sale
e. Number of Products
f. Number of Customers
g. Average Sales per Customer
h. Replace the Product Category with Product Sub Category
i. Replace the Product Sub Category with Customer Name
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
In the properties options you are able to change styling of the table including Header
colors, fonts, sizes, table colors and alternating colors.
In addition the user can select whether to show the Row numbers and page
pagination controls.
For each column the user is able to select whether to use Compact Numbers and the
level of precision. The user is able to display the Metric as a Number, Bar or
HeatMap
Practical Activity
1. Create a Table displaying the Sales, Profit, Average Sale, Lowest Sale,
Highest Sale and Number of Transactions by Customer
2. Use the Bar to represent the Sales and Profit
3. Use the Heatmap to represent the Average Sale
4. Experiment with Style options
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
The styling for the Up and Down arrow is controlled in the Styles properties. The
values that are displayed can also be changed from percentages to absolute values.
Practical Activity
Create the following Table:
1. Sales, Profit, Average Sales per Product, Profit Ratio by Customer Name
2. Apply the Previous Periods option
3. Change the Previous Period to display absolute values
4. Change the Styling
5. Experiment with different time periods and filtering options
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Create the following Tables and display on the canvas:
1. Sales and Profit by Year
2. Sales and Profit by Year and Quarter
3. Sales and Profit by Year and Month
4. Sales and Profit by Quarter
5. Sales and Profit by Month
6. Sales and Profit by Year and WeekNum
7. Sales and Profit by Month and WeekDay
8. Sales and Profit by WeekDay
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
Create the following Time Series visualization with a Filter displaying Region:
3. Sales by Month
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
The Cumulative time series graph provides a different understanding to your data.
The Cumulative graph will display the running total in the graph.
1. Copy and Paste the existing graph
2. Set the new graph to be a Cumulative Graph
3. Select the Previous Period option for both graphs
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Although this visualization takes a bit of getting used to, you will see that you can
analyze the data through the patterns that are in the visualization.
Practical Activity
Please create the following Column and Bar Graphs:
1. Create a Stacked Column graph displaying Sales by Year and Product
Category
2. Create a copy of the graph and change to 100% Stacked Column graph
3. Create a Stacked Bar displaying Sales by Region and Customer Segment
4. Create a copy of the graph and display as a 100% Stacked Bar
5. Use the Customer State as a Filter
6. Experiment with different Styles and options
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Experiment with the Single Color option and change the size of the slices. The
legend can also be changed to the top,right and bottom. Also experiment with the
different labels.
Practical Activity
Create the following Pie Graphs and display on the canvas:
1. Profit by Product Category
2. Profit by Product Sub Category - Create a Filter to display only the
Technology Product Category
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Data Studio will shade the different customer states in relation to the highest Sales
value. So the Customer State with the highest Sales will have the darkest shade.
The properties for the Map can also be changed. The colors that are used for the
shading of the map can be amended.
Practical Activity
1. Create a Map displaying the Average Profit per Customer by Customer
State
2. Change the color to Green
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Scatterplot
Scatterplots are great visualizations for displaying correlations between different
Metrics. In this example we are going to review the correlation between Sales and
Profit.
1. Create the Scatterplot visualization
2. Change the Dimension to Product Sub Category
3. Change the X Metric to Sales
4. Change the Y Metric to Profit
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Practical Activity
1. Create a Scatterplot displaying the Customer Name - Dimension; Metric X
- Average Sales per Customer and Metric Y- Average Profit per
Customer
2. Copy and Paste the Scatterplot three more times
3. Create four filters for Custom Segment - Consumer; Corporate; Small
Business and Home Office
4. Use the Product Category as a Filter
5. Experiment with different colors and styles
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Scorecards:
1. Total Sales
2. Total Profit
3. Average Sale per Customer
4. Profit Ratio
Time Series Graphs
1. Default Time Series graph displaying Sales
2. Sales by Month (Show Previous Period)
3. Cumulative Sales by Month (Show previous period)
4. Sales by Day of the Week (Show in Column format)
5. Sales by Week Number
Table
1. Display a Table showing Sales and Profit by Customer State
2. Use a Bar for the Sales and Profit
Column Graph
1. Sales by Customer Segment
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Data Analysis and Dashboards with Google Data Studio
Map
1. Sales by Customer State
Scatterplot
1. Sales and Profit by Product Sub Category
Filters
1. Create an expandable filter for Region
2. Create a Date Picker filter
Experiment with different Styles, Borders and Colors. Also experiment with different
Filters.
Please experiment with Sharing your Dashboard with other users.
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