June 2019 Google Data Studio Update – Improved Charts & Line Functionality

There have been several new features launched for Google Data Studio in June 2019. I’ll give you a breakdown of what these are and how you could use them to improve your Data Studio reporting!

1. Improved method of adding charts to a report

This is a subtle but significant improvement to the way Users can add and interact with charts in Data Studio.

Previously a new chart would appear at the top of the report, and the User would need to drag it into position.

Now when you add any element (including date ranges, filters, charts tables and other design elements) you can choose where it should go before it is added to your report.

2. Changing the Colour of Chart Headers

Chart Headers are a recent addition to Data Studio. One of the most useful features of Chart Headers is that they allow you to “Drill Down” or “Drill Up” into your data.

To allow drilling down into your Data, you’d need to enable the Hierarchy feature on your chart’s Data tab. In this case we’ve chosen the hierarchy to be;

– Continent
– Sub Continent
– Country
– City

The latest addition to the Chart Header feature is to change its colour. It’s a small change, but any change that allows more customization is a welcome one!

3. Adding Lines to your Report

Perhaps the most significant of the three recent changes was the introduction of a Line feature to Data Studio.

Up until now users have been able to add square and circle shapes to their reports, but not a line. Lines come in three styles; Linear, Elbow and Curved Elbow.

You can change and manipulate the direction and angle of the line, as well as adding different types of pointers.

These arrows have several practical applications, such as labeling parts of your data.

In a way, they allow you to create annotations to describe patterns or anomalies in your data.

I hope you founds it useful to read up on these new features, and enjoy adding them to your reports!