There are several ways to visualize data from SAP Datasphere in SAP Analytics Cloud.
For example, imagine you are the CFO of a multinational chain of furniture stores. You need to understand if your recent store design changes had an impact on the sales of a product that was selling poorly last year. You can get insights by analyzing the data you have in the SAP Datasphere and modeling this data to show you the connections that you are looking for. Then, you can visualize it all with the SAP Analytics Cloud using a Story.
What stories come down to is the ability to analyze the data generated by the connections you made during your modeling phase to then visualize it and tell a story based on the data. With SAP Datasphere, you can not only make sure you have the fresh data you need, but also that you can make sure your data is ready to be interpreted without spending precious time on organizing it.
Building a story is usually the last step in data analysis within SAP Datasphere. Here, you visually discover and communicate important data insights. Creating a story is as easy as choosing what charts you’d like and selecting the appropriate dimensions and measures. However, there are different strategies and best practices you can deploy to build engaging stories that communicate exactly what you’re trying to get across in a memorable way.
Define Your Goals
The best way to approach story building is to outline exactly what you’re looking to find out from the data. This gives you a very clear jumping off point from which to find other insights. Is your primary objective to figure out what customers are buying the most by looking for any possible buying trends? Or is it to discover what salesperson is selling the most? Maybe it is all of the above. Focus on answering each question with a chart, (or multiple charts), then unfold additional hidden insights once the big questions are answered.
Use Design Principles
Keep design principles in mind when creating your story. Things like using white space to make stories easy to read, or using complimentary colors are a great way to highlight important charts in your story.
It is important to keep charts from becoming busy by minimizing color, eliminating confusing design, removing redundant information and putting data in the correct order. The goal is to draw people into your Story and keep them engaged by presenting information in a way that is easy to interpret. That isn’t to say you can’t present complex information, just do it in a simplified way.
SAP Analytics Cloud Unified Story Design enables application designers to create centrally governable analytic content, ranging from dashboards achieved through guided analytics to sophisticated planning and smart applications. You can not only build professional dashboards, but also sophisticated smart analytics applications that integrate with other applications (either SAP applications or from third-parties).
