A dimension is an attribute used to group, filter, or compare data. In a sales dashboard, dimensions include product, category, segment, gender, age group, state, and date; measures such as sales and gross margin provide the values being compared. section 6.1.2
Figure 6.1 First two rows of the CSV data used in this example.
Inspecting the first rows makes each dimension visible alongside the measures it describes. section 6.1.2
Use dimensions to answer questions such as:
- Which products or categories produce the most sales? section 6.1.2
- How do results differ across genders, age groups, or states? section 6.1.2
- How does a metric change over time when date is used as the grouping dimension? section 6.1.2
To prepare a chart, group the data by one dimension and calculate the selected metric for each dimension value. Grouping by product, for example, turns row-level sales into one total for each product. section 6.5.2
Dimension-based pie chart
A pie chart can show total sales or gross margin grouped by age group, gender, state, category, segment, or product name. Ratios such as margin percentage and average transaction value are excluded because calculating each subgroup's ratio is necessary; subgroup ratios do not combine into a meaningful whole. section 6.5.2
