Visualization

The visualization module in Analytics lets you execute, view, and customize data and charts that show exploration results. Additionally, when you use Visualization Tiles in the Dashboard, some elements from the visualization module are included.

Visualization options

Analytics offers several chart types to help you visualize your data. You can use these charts in dashboards or explorations to present your data. To change the chart type, click Chart in the visualization window and select the chart type. Learn about Visibility controls.

Single value

Displays a single value derived from analysis. Analytics uses single value for top values, aggregated calculations, and analysis.

Table

Displays data in tabular format.

Line Chart 

Displays data in a two-dimensional format with an X and Y axis. Each point represents a single value, and the data points are connected by a line to illustrate a trend, typically over time.  

Horizontal Bar Chart

Displays data as horizontal bars, with the bar length indicating the magnitude of the value. The dimension is plotted along the horizontal axis, while Analytics plots the measure along the vertical axis.

Bar Chart

The Bar Chart displays data as vertical bars, with the bar length indicating the magnitude of the value. The dimension is plotted along the horizontal axis, while Analytics plots the measure along the vertical axis. See also Visibility controls.

Bar Funnel Chart

Using a bar chart layout, the Bar Funnel Chart displays data across multiple stages of the process.

Funnel Chart

The Funnel Chart displays data across multiple stages of a process.

Pie Chart

The Pie Chart displays data in a circle segmented into sectors, each representing a proportion of the data.

Bubble Chart

The Bubble Chart displays data points using bubbles, incorporating an additional data dimension represented by the size of the bubbles.

Sankey Chart

The Sankey Chart illustrates the flow from one set of values to another. Displaying users' paths through various touchpoints with a product, such as screens, actions, and more. The Sankey Chart is useful for identifying frequent user journeys.

Breakdown Chart

The Breakdown Chart displays retention by time dimensions (time since focal time and time itself). This capability is present only for the Retained measure type. You can also segment by cohorts and attributes in the breakdown chart.

Pivot Chart

The Pivot Chart displays table data in a multi-dimensional view.

The Table Totals/Subtotals feature in Optimizely Analytics enhances data analysis within pivot tables by providing comprehensive aggregation options for columns. This feature supports the following aggregation functions, making it adaptable to various analytical needs:

• Minimum
• Maximum
• Average
• Median
• Unique Values
• Row Count
• Unique Count
• Range

Column Totals

Calculate the total of a given column within a pivot table. The Column Total is computed for the entire column, regardless of pagination, and displayed at the bottom of the page.

Column Subtotals

View subtotals for grouped columns based on specific attributes. Column Subtotals are automatically generated when columns are grouped, leveraging the existing grouping functionality in pivot tables.

Visibility controls

You can show or hide specific measures or attributes from your visualizations without modifying the underlying query. This gives you flexibility in viewing and presenting data, which is especially useful in crowded charts.

In experiment scorecards, you can toggle and save visibility settings for decision-making and guardrail metrics. Special pivot attributes used in scorecards also surface, letting you have more control over what is displayed in performance comparisons over time.

Chart settings

You can customize and edit your chart through the chart settings section. Click More (⋮) > Edit visualization in the dashboard tiles and exploration templates.

Annotations

Mark a chart with a labeled note on a specific date to record an event, such as a marketing send, a product launch, or a pricing change. Annotations help you correlate events with changes in your data. Each annotation records the author and uses the correct time zone for the date.

To add an annotation:

1. Right click any point on the chart and click Add Annotation.

   

2. Select the date on the chart where the event occurred. By default, this is set to the date you clicked on the chart.
3. Enter the annotation text and toggle Show text preview to display the text on the chart.

4. Click Add.

   

The chart shows a marker on the selected date, connected by a leader line to the data point. To edit or remove an annotation, click the marker and select to appropriate option.

When you add the visualization to a dashboard, annotations carry over to the dashboard tile, which shows the annotation count.

Data tab

The Data tab has information about the X and Y axes and lets you select and customize the data you want to display on the chart axis. Click + corresponding to the respective axes to add an axis configuration. You can add attributes and tooltips by clicking +. For pie charts, tables, or sankey charts, the Primary and Secondary tabs replace the X-Axis and Y-Axis tabs.

Sorting

Use the Sorting section to sort your visualization results. 

Use the Show sorting option on the graph to display sorting on the chart. The arrows next to each column let you sort the data. You can also use the Limit option to restrict the data displayed.

Automatic refresh

Toggle the automatic refreshing of the chart's data. To activate it, use the toggle and set the time interval in the Refresh rate field. If left empty, automatic refresh is not enabled.

Style tab

General

You can configure the following options:

• Display legend – Control the display of the legend on the chart.
• Legend position – Configure where you want to position the legend. The options available are Top, Bottom, Left, and Right.
• Stacked chart – Display values for different categories stacked on top of each other within a bar or along a single axis.
• Compact layout – Create Sparklines to visualize trends across multiple measures with compact, in-line charts to spot patterns and gain insights at a glance.
• Tooltip mode – Configure the tooltip position. The options available are Nearest, X-axis, Y-axis, and Index.

Compare to

Compare a measure against a prior period to see how performance changed. Use the Compare to control to set the comparison period, such as Previous year or Previous period. Compare to works on both time series charts and Single value charts.

Over time

On a time series chart, such as a Line chart, compare the current period with a previous period to see how a metric changed over time. Over time comparison works in funnel, event segmentation, and retention explorations.

To compare over time:

1. Configure the exploration.
2. Select Over time from the drop-down list in the visualization settings.
3. Run the exploration.
4. Select a comparison period from the Compare to drop-down list.

The chart adds a dotted line that shows the same analysis for the comparison period. Switch the result between a numeric change and a percentage change.

For the comparison measures available in each exploration type, see Period-over-period comparison in explorations.

Single value

On a Single value chart, Compare to shows the change from the prior period in two forms:

• Absolute difference (#) – The change in the measure value, such as the increase in event count.
• Percentage difference (%) – The change as a percentage of the prior period value.

A directional indicator colors the result. Green marks a positive change, and red marks a negative change. For example, a value trends 21.5% higher than the same point in the prior year, with the absolute increase shown next to it.

Configure how the comparison displays in the Style tab:

• Direction – Sets which direction counts as positive versus negative, which controls the green and red coloring.
• Previous period value – Shows the prior period actual value with the current value.

• Comparison suffix – Shows suffix text on the comparison. This option links to Previous period value. When previous period value is off, the suffix option is disabled and cleared.

  

When you add the visualization to a dashboard, the comparison carries over to the dashboard tile. The visualization header orders the controls as time grain, compare, and time range, which groups the comparison with the time controls.

X-axis

You can configure the following fields:

• Display axis – Control how the axis displays in the chart.
• Column label – Edit the name of the column.
• Axis label – Override the source column name with a custom label for the X-axis.
• Axis scale type – Select a measurement unit for the axis.
• Format – Select a data format for displaying values on the axis.
• Ticks time unit – Adjust the axis time markers or "ticks" without changing the time grain.
• Max label rotation – Control the rotation of the labels.

Y-axis

You can configure the following fields:

• Display axis – Control how the axis displays in the chart.
• Anchor axis – Align multiple numeric measures on a shared scale, making it easier to to compare related data in a chart visually.
• Column label – Edit the name of the column.
• Axis label – Customize the axis label by overriding the default source column name.
• Axis scale type – Select the measurement unit for the axis.
• Axis position – Select the position of the axis.
• Calculate % of Total – Enable this option to see the results in percentage format.
• Format – Select how data values are formatted and displayed on the axis.
• Max decimal precision – Configure the maximum number of digits shown after the decimal point in numerical values.
• Value Rounding – Edit your visualization and round large values into millions, billions, or trillions to keep data readable.
• Axis range maximum – Configure the maximum range for the axis.
• Axis range minimum – Configure the minimum range for the axis.
• Color – Change the color of the data displayed on the axis.
• Point size – Adjust the size of data points on a line chart's sparkline.
• Line width – Control the width of a sparkline in a line chart.
• Line tension% – Adjust the curvature of a sparkline in a line chart.
• Fill – Add color to the area under a sparkline.
• Stepped – Switch to a stepped line chart.
• Target – Set a goal value on a measure to track progress toward it.

Targets

Set a goal value on a measure to track progress toward it. Configure targets per measure, so each Y-axis measure supports its own target. Single value, Line, and Bar charts support targets.

In the Targets group, configure the following settings:

• Target value – Required. The goal to reach, such as 700.
• Baseline – Optional. A reference value to measure progress from.
• Target date – Optional. The date to reach the target, such as the end of the quarter.

• Label – Optional. A name for the target.

  

How the target displays depends on the chart type:

• Single value charts – The tile adds a progress bar that shows the progress percentage and fills toward the goal. The bar turns green when the value exceeds the target. With a target date set, the tile also shows the date and the days remaining.

• Line and Bar charts – The chart draws a dashed horizontal line at the target value, so you see when the measure meets or exceeds the goal.

  

When you add the visualization to a dashboard, the target carries over to the dashboard tile.

Attribute

• Column label – Override the source column name and have a custom label in the tooltip.
• Format – Select a data format for displaying values on the chart.

Tooltip

Display data values when you hover over data points. Use + to select data columns to display their values in the tooltip.

• Axis label – Override the source column name and have a custom label in the tooltip.
• Format – Select a data format for displaying values on the chart.

Inspect query

You can examine and customize the underlying exploration query using NetScript, SQL, and Warehouse SQL dialects. To do this, click More (⋮) > Inspect Query. You can also open the query in the explorer to modify it.

To customize the query, click Open as Explore. You are directed to the following relevant explorer by Analytics:

• For Warehouse SQL, go to the data warehouse.
• For SQL, go to the SQL explorer.
• For NetScript, go to the NetScript explorer.

Add to dashboard

You can add the current exploration to a dashboard. This feature is available in exploration templates and simplifies adding charts to dashboards.

Refresh

Click Refresh to refresh the chart. Hover over Refresh to see when Analytics last computed the query.