Since late 2018 Google Data Studio has added features that allow its users to create their own charts, graphs, and other visualization. These can then be shared with all other users to use as if they were built into Data Studio to begin with. This means that the ways in which report creators can display data are not limited to the ones Google built into Data Studio; they can use those created by other users or even create one themselves.
In this post we will show our favorite 6 community visualizations from the ones that have been developed and released thus far. We have also produced a report with sample data so that you can view the visualizations for yourself.
1. Super Selector
Designed by well-known Data Studio partner Supermetrics, the Super Selector provides a simple and visual way for the end-user to filter the data they want to see in the report. If the end-user would benefit from being able to view the data in a Google Analytics report by the visitor’s country, for example, or by marketing channel then this visualization would work well. We have used these two dimensions in our sample report. As you can see, multiple super selectors can even be combined on the same page to allow users to perform multidimensional filtering.
2. Animated Bar Chart
This chart is an excellent way to show how the values for a dimension have changed or accrued over time. The chart shows an animation of the values for each day, week, or month in the selected date range. In our example, we show how the top 10 most viewed products change over time. Additionally, the chart can be set to show the cumulative total. The end-user can pick whether this is shown day-by-day, week-by-week, or month-by-month.
3. Funnel Chart
This simple and useful chart allows for a conversion funnel to be visualized so that each step of the conversion process can be compared. Many users were calling for this chart type to be added before the community visualizations made this possible. In our example, we have visualized an ecommerce conversion funnel.
4. Sankey Chart
Sankey charts are a type of flow diagram in which the width of each section changes according to the flow. This chart shows a metric that links two dimensions and is able to visualize the split of the metric between each category of the two dimensions. In our example, we have taken the number of Sessions as the metric and Channel and Device as the dimensions from Google Analytics. The chart allows us to quickly see how much traffic comes via each channel from each device. In the example, we have highlighted the percentage of sessions on mobile devices reaching the site via organic search.
5. Reviews
This visualization shows the latest review received on any product, app or the like. It includes the reviewers name, comment and star rating. Multiple versions can be added to show the most recent reviews.
6. Gantt Chart
This chart, also by Supermetrics, allows the user to visualize the timeline of their marketing campaigns. This helps to gauge the impact that different marketing initiatives have had. It can then also be used to filter the data in the report.
How to add Community Visualizations
If you want to add these, or any of the other, community visualizations you do not use the usual “Add a chart” button. Instead, use the small button alongside it.
Additionally, in order to use the Community Visualizations, you need to give these permissions for each data source you would like to use. You do this by managing your data sources and clicking on “Community visualizations access”.
