GOOGLE DATA

STUDIO PLAYBOOK

Author: Daniel Waisberg, Advocate at Google & Founder at online-behavior.com

Contributing Editor: Fadel Lahlou, Digital Analytics & Insights Consultant, Cardinal Path
 Introduction

Earlier this year, the Google Analytics team announced the global
availability of its full-featured Google Data Studio, free of charge.

By delivering a first-class data visualization platform that can be

used to access, transform, visualize, collaborate and share data at
scale - for free - this release advances the movement towards
data democracy.

Data Studio & the Google Analytics platform

Google Analytics 360 Suite, a platform that helps organizations
to evaluate the full customer journey and drive business results,
comprises six products:
Tag Manager 360 - Data Collection
More data, less hassle with powerful APIs and partnerships.

Analytics 360 - Digital Analytics

New insight with a total view of the customer experience.

Attribution 360 - Marketing Analytics

True value of all your marketing channels.

Optimize 360 - Testing and Personalization

Test and deliver more personal experiences on your site.

Audience Center 360 - Audience Analytics

Match the right people with the right message.

Data Studio - Data Analysis and Visualization

Build beautiful and shareable reports, with all your data in one place.

Google Data Studio Playbook 2

 Google Data Studio Overview
The Google Analytics 360 Suite offers considerable power to
any enterprise but even if you’re using the free versions of these
products, such as Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager, you
can still use the full-featured Data Studio.

Connect
Once you have your data, check whether any preparation is
required (e.g. calculated fields, different formatting, cleaning up) in
order to make the data useful.

Visualize
Once the data is ready to go, open your canvas and start
connecting the dots, designing the look of the charts, and ensure
they tell an insightful story. Collaborate with colleagues anywhere
in the world, in the same way that you already do with Google
Docs, Sheets and Slides.

Google Data Studio Playbook 3

 Google Data Studio Overview

Share
With the click of a button, you can share your data stories with
stakeholders, empowering them with information and insights in a
clear, compelling way.

Get started by logging in: https://datastudio.google.com. You will

see something similar to the following page:

The interface is pretty straightforward. You can choose an account

(if you have multiple) in the top right corner; and you can see all,
shared, or trashed reports (default page) and Data Sources.

Google Data Studio Playbook 4

 Data Sources: Access, Transform,
and Manage
Click on Data Sources in the left “sidebar” (see screenshot above).
Maybe you will already have some Data Sources in there, maybe
you won’t. In any case, you will see a “+” sign in the bottom-right
corner of your page, Click on this to create a new Data Source.

The first choice you have to make is which data source to pull
from: Google Analytics, BigQuery, Sheets, etc. Once you click on
one of them, choose among the accounts you have access to
and click the “Connect” button. You will get to a screen similar to
the following.

Google Data Studio Playbook 5

 Data Sources: Access, Transform, and Manage

1. Create a calculated field

You can use this to create new metrics based on a formula that
transforms one or more existing metrics. There are dozens of
operators available, here is a reference list.

2. Field type
Choose the formatting and type of metric. Here are the top level
types, each has several options: Numeric, Text, Date & Time,
Boolean, Geo.

3. Field aggregation
Choose the aggregation that should be used for your metric. For
example, if your metric is a ratio such as Conversion Rate, you
should use Average, if it is an absolute value such as Sessions,
you should use Sum.

4. Create a report
Let the fun begin!

Google Data Studio Playbook 6

 Data Sources
The value in the Data Sources feature is not just the fact that you
can bring data from other systems, it is also how you can use
them across three different levels:

Report level
The highest level component in the Data Studio inheritance chain.
By attaching a Data Source to a Report you will be able to use it
across all pages. It is possible to have multiple Sources attached
to a Report, but you will choose one as the default, in case a Data
Source is not set in the Page or Chart level.

Page level
A component of a Report. By setting a Data Source to a Page, you
can make it the default to that specific page, even if another Data
Source is set as the default in the Report level.

Chart level
A graphical representation of data within a Page, the lowest level
component in the inheritance chain. The flexibility to set Data
Sources to specific Charts has a great advantage when building
dashboards for multiple websites, countries, business units or
departments.

Google Data Studio Playbook 7

 Data Sources

Currently available Data Connectors:

ēē DoubleClick
ēē Google AdWords
ēē Google Analytics and Google Analytics 360
ēē Google Attribution 360
ēē Google BigQuery
ēē Google Cloud SQL
ēē Google Sheets
ēē MySQL
ēē PostgreSQL
ēē YouTube Channel
ēē Data Uploader

Google Data Studio Playbook 8

 Reports: Visualize and Collaborate
After you create a Data Source, you will be given the option to
create a Report (see #4 in the screenshot on page 5). But more
often than not, you will login to your Data Studio account and
create a Report right from the overview page. To do this, click on
the “+” in the bottom-right corner.

A great way to learn about the Reports interface is to review the

map published in the Data Studio Help Center.

1. Click on one of the chart tools to draw a chart in your report

2. Your canvas awaits
3. Configure data, settings and styles for any selected component
4. Click to switch between edit and view mode
5. Click to share this report
6. Add text to your report
7. Add an image to your report
8. Draw a shape in your report

Google Data Studio Playbook 9

 Reports: Visualize and Collaborate

9. Add a date range control to your report or a filter control

10. Undo and Redo
11. Mouseover to see data status and click to update the cache
12. Switch between Report pages, organize / add / remove pages
from the report
13. Back to Homepage
14. Click to change the Report name
15. Shows who is viewing or editing the report
16. Click to manage your Google profile
17. Click to send us feedback

A quick note on #15 above: once you create a Report, you can
share it with your colleagues to harness the collective knowledge of
your company.

Below is an example of a collaboration between Daniel, Tahir and

Lizzie on a Report. While Daniel (blue) edits the top line chart,
Lizzie (pink) is editing the donut chart and Tahir (turquoise) is
editing the map. The cool thing is that you can actually see all
changes in real time.

Google Data Studio Playbook 10

 Data Visualization Templates

Data Studio provides you with plenty of free templates to choose

from when building your reports. These pre-built solutions give
you a head-start to provide reporting across a range of available
data sources. Some customization could be necessary, as the
templates may contain some metrics or dimensions that you are
not currently tracking.

Any of these templates are ‘editable’ but if you haven’t explored

Data Studio yet, the ‘Blank’ template is an ideal sandbox for
learning to work with the tool and effectively build reports that fit
your business requirements.

There is also sample data provided with the templates in case you
have not yet connected your data sources.

Google Data Studio Playbook 11

 Data Visualization Templates

Calculated Metrics
Sometimes raw data just isn’t enough to engineer the insightful
reports you want. Data Studio allows users to create new
metrics and dimensions in their data sources by creating custom
calculated fields using simple or complex mathematical formulas,
and returning data based on logical comparisons. Users can select
these new fields in their reports by selecting them from the metric
or dimension selector, just as they would in any other field.

Google Data Studio Playbook 12

 Data Visualization Templates

Interactive Controls
Dashboards users love interactivity with their visualizations.
With Google Data Studio you can insert interactive controls that
allow users to ‘filter’ the data through dimension and date range
selectors. You can filter regions, countries, and have a fixed or
custom date range selector to include or exclude specific data on
charts or to an entire page within a report.

Google Data Studio Playbook 13

 Reporting Best Practices
Best practices are a critical application in order to find success
with reporting.

“In many ways, visualization is like cooking. You are the chef, and
datasets, geometry, and color are your ingredients.”

Nathan Yau, Data Points: Visualization That Means Something

Here are some best practices that can be used with reports.

1. Filter controls give power to the users

Filter controls are like coffee with chocolate, they will drive your
users forward and offer a rich analysis experience. If you choose
the right filters and design them well, analysis will be easier and
more effective. There is nothing more frustrating than conducting
analysis and being limited by the lack of filters.

Google Data Studio Playbook 14

 Reporting Best Practices

Ideally, you want to have a set of constant filters across all your
pages, so that the user can feel more comfortable when looking
through the data. Since this is not always possible, at least try to
keep the same look and feel and some of the same filters.

In terms of design, the “Expandable” option looks good, but for

short lists it might be useful to have the standard filter. Here is a
great video describing this feature in detail:

Google Data Studio Playbook 15

 Reporting Best Practices

2. Headers and page dividers for organization and

consistency
Using headers can help to streamline the experience across a
multi-page Report. It not only brings a consistent experience to
users, it also quickly tells them what data is available in a specific
Page. The header can be simple - maybe a full-width strip with
a light background (as above). It can also include important
messages to users, links to other resources or even a date picker
(if you run out of space).

Edward Tufte termed the importance of consistency in design as

“economy of perception results”:

“... once viewers decode and comprehend the design for one slice of
data, they have familiar access to data in all the other slices. As our
eye moves from one image to the next, this constancy of design allows
viewers to focus on changes in information rather than changes in
graphical composition. A steady canvas makes for a clearer picture.”

Edward Tufte, Envisioning Information

Page dividers can also be highly effectively to separate between

different types of content. For example, if you are showing data for
four different business units in a Page, you might consider having
page dividers to make the separation clear. Again, be sure they
are consistent across pages.

Google Data Studio Playbook 16

 Reporting Best Practices

3. Chart diversity makes the report more engaging

When it comes to the charts themselves, diversity is key. A
Report containing only tables or only bar charts is tedious
viewing. Having different chart types makes the analysis more
interesting. You can use line charts for trends, bar charts for group
comparisons, and tables where the value is important, and the
range of visual elements will help keep users engaged.

The Chart Chooser is a good resource on how to choose the type

of visualization you need for your data.

4. Color styling helps guiding the eyes

Don’t go too crazy with color. Nothing explains this more succinctly
than Tufte’s Data-Ink Ratio:

“A large share of ink on a graphic should present data-information, the

ink changing as the data change. Data-ink is the non-erasable core of a
graphic, the non-redundant ink arranged in response to variation in the
numbers represented.”

Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

In the Reports Best Practices example above, color is used to

indicate which charts are most important and highlight interesting
insights, with the top half of the chart colorful and the bottom half
in shades of grey. This helps to direct the eye. In this case, there
are only two colors which is usually not enough, but it’s a matter of
personal preference, as some people find too many colors difficult
to read.

Google Data Studio Playbook 17

 Reporting Best Practices

5. The Report purpose informs the design

It is important to remember that knowing the purpose of the
visualizations is critical to the conception and creation of your
Reports. Think about the purpose as a whole: what are your users
looking for and how can you convey it in the best possible way?

“When you use tables and charts to discover the message in the data,
you are performing analysis. When you use them to track information
about operational performance, such as the speed or quality of
manufacturing, you are engaged in monitoring. When you use them to
prepare for the future, such as in budgeting, you are planning. When you
use them to pass on to others a message about a business, however,
your purpose is communication, no matter what the content. All of
these are important uses of tables and graphs, but the process that you
engage in and the design principles that you follow differ for each.”

Stephen Few, Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs

to Enlighten

Google Data Studio Playbook 18

 Sharing is caring: in moderation!
As you will notice, Data Studio uses the Google Drive sharing
model, which you are probably familiar with. When you share a
Report or Data Source with a person, the access can be given
whether or not the person has access to the data in Google
Analytics, Sheets, BigQuery, etc. Be sure that it is appropriate to
share this data.

Example
In the sharing settings above, you will notice that three people
have access to the report in question. Daniel is the owner, Tahir
can edit, and Lizzie can view the Report. You will also notice in
the first checkbox at the end of the settings that even though Tahir
can edit, he will not be able to add new people to it. Also note that
the owner can disable the options to download, print, and copy for
commenters and viewers (in this case Lizzie).

Google Data Studio Playbook 19

 Next Steps
Google Data Studio represents a great opportunity for the analytics
community to level up by improving and building upon its data
reporting and visualization standards. In the meantime, here’s a list
of additional resources to move you closer to your data visualization
and reporting goals:

ēē Data Studio video tutorials

ēē Google Data Studio Help
ēē Data Studio Visualization & Reporting Solutions Webinar

Plus, see Data Studio in Action, with plenty of practical examples, in

this demo by Nick Mihailovski, Google Data Studio Product Lead:

Author Contributing Editor

Daniel Waisberg Fadel Lahlou
Analytics Advocate at Google Digital Analytics & Insights Consultant,
& Founder at online-behavior.com Cardinal Path

Questions? Contact info@cardinalpath.com

Google Data Studio Playbook 20