Big Changes with Big Value Comparisons

We’re excited to get some big ups for this big change as we announce the big launch of big value comparisons!

Big value comparisons are the simplest way to show how a metric is trending or has changed over time. In this article, we'll show you when to use big value charts and comparisons to improve your data storytelling.

The Power of Big Value Charts

Big Value charts are the quickest way to get an important value across to someone. I find big value charts make the biggest impact:

• at the very top of a dashboard to provide a summary of our key metrics
• within a dashboard where you want there to be a really clear takeaway value

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Big value charts help stakeholders quickly understand the significance of data and make informed decisions, so they should be a staple in a lot of your dashboards.

Introducing Big Value Chart Comparisons

Last week, we launched a big improvement to our big value charts: including comparisons!

Comparisons allow users to include additional data points or benchmarks for comparison against their primary metrics. This gives you the flexibility to compare metrics across different time periods, departments, regions, or any other relevant dimension.

Uncover Deeper Insights and Trends

By adding comparisons to big value charts, you unlock the ability to do things like:

• Track changes in revenue over time. For example, below we’re comparing the increase in revenue over the previous month.

• Benchmark your metrics against internal targets. For example, comparing your actual vs. target revenue so you can highlight how you’re performing against your goals.

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• Highlight outliers and anomalies. For example, make it easy to spot a massive increase in the number of support requests so you can do something about it, fast!

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• Add context to your big values. Having a total revenue of $13,000 doesn’t mean much unless I’m given something to compare it to. Comparisons give your users the context they need to understand the bigger picture with big values - like how $13k revenue is a 278% increase compared to last month’s revenue!

How to Add Comparisons in Big Value Charts with Lightdash

To add comparisons to your big value charts, run a query with the numbers you want to compare, then select the big value chart type.

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Once you’ve got the data you want to compare, head to the configure tab and click on comparison. Turning on the option compare to previous row will compare the first row in the field you’ve selected for your big number to the second row.

You can read more about the configuration options for big value charts in the docs here.

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Sign up to Lightdash to supercharge your charts, and more!

These new Big Value comparisons let you add more important context to your big value charts so your users can get the insights they need, faster than ever. But, Big Value comparisons are just one of the many features we’re working on here at Lightdash to supercharge your charts, so watch this space!

You can check out this new feature alongside many of our other powerful visualization capabilities by signing up for a Lightdash Cloud trial here (the first 30 days are free) or reaching out to us for a personalized demo.

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