Viewing and Using a Data Insight

There are two ways to open a data insight to view and manipulate the data:

• Starting on any tab view of the Data Insights list, find the row for the data insight and click the Name.

• Starting from a dashboard tab that contains a widget based on the data insight, click the Open data insight double arrow in the upper right of the widget.  

There are two ways to close a data insight, depending on where you began:

• If you opened the data insight from the Data Insights list, click the back button on your web browser. You return to the list of data insights.

• If you opened the data insight view from a dashboard widget, you can do one of the following:

  • Click the Return to dashboard double arrow in the upper right of the title bar of the data insight. You return to the dashboard tab page where you began with the widget in its normal size.

  • Click the back button on your web browser. You return to the dashboard tab that you started from.

The following are the common parts of any data insight page that you view:

1. The title bar contains the following basic information about the data insight (from left to right):

   • The name of the data insight in large bold print.

   • The Type of data insight it is.

   • The Time Zone of the date and times on the data table and also used in filters and calculations for the data.

   • The Last Modified date and time when the data insight definition was last updated in any way.

2. The toolbar contains the following tools for modifying the data and how it is presented, as well as tools for taking actions on the data insight:

   • Filter options

     These appear in the top row of the toolbar. Any currently applied filters appear next to the filter icon. At a minimum, a date specification or date range filter must be applied. You can modify the filters while viewing the data insight. If you change the filters while viewing the data insight and you want to return to the filters that were set in the definition, click Reset. This appears at the end of the displayed filters as soon as you make a change to the filter selection.

   • The Group By option:

     This allows you to select the column with the values that you want to have aggregated for the graphic segmentation. For more information, see Using the Data Insight Graphic.

   • The Columns button, to open the list of available columns that you can include in the data table. For more information, see Using the Data Insight Table.

   • The Save button to save changes that you, as the owner or an editor, make to the filters, grouping, or column configuration to the data insight definition. If you have only view rights to the data insight, this button is never activated.

   • The button to open the Actions menu, which lists the available actions that you can take on the data insight. For more information, see Taking Actions on the Data Insight.

3. The graphic, which appears below the toolbar, shows a pie chart with slices of aggregated data based on the values in the selected Group By column. The graphic is interactive and can be used as a quick filter to extract the data rows for a specific slice. For more information, see Using the Data Insight Graphic.

4. The data table below the graphic contains all the filtered data. The data is presented according to how the columns are configured and sorted. The table also shows you which data is outputted and how it is presented in the output when you download, print, or email the data insight. For more information, see Using the Data Insight Table.

Each data insight contains a chart that aggregates the filtered data according to your selected grouping criteria and presents it graphically. As you change the filters for the data insight, the graphic is updated dynamically to show the new aggregates.

The graphic is also interactive in that it provides a quick filter for the data table.

Group By Controls the Aggregation

The pie chart represents all data rows that meet the filter criteria. The slices break down those data rows into aggregates of how often a certain value appears in a selected data column.

While the slices give you a sense or proportional representation of each value, callouts tell you the exact number of data rows that each value appears in.

You can select the data column for which you want to see the subtotal breakdowns. You do this in the Group By field in the upper left of the graphic. You will notice that the Group By offers you only data columns that can provide useful breakdowns of the whole data set.

Quick Filtering with the Graph

The graphic on a data insight also works as a quick filter tool on top of the filters that are already applied through the filter settings in the toolbar. The quick filter works as follows:

• Click any segment. It pops out of the whole and the table is filtered to show only the data rows that have the value that the segment represents.

• Click another segment and it, too, pops out. Now the table filters for both those values. You can continue to click segments consecutively, and each pops out and that value is added to the table filter.

• To remove a quick filter value, click the corresponding segment. It pops back into the whole, and the value is removed from the table filter.

• Notice that the total number of rows at the bottom on the table adjusts as you apply and remove quick filters.

After quick filtering to see only the data rows with common key values, you can further sort to surface patterns and outliers.

Graphs in Print Outputs

When you create and download or email a print output of the data insight, such as a PDF, the graphic is included in the output, how you see it and based on the Group By option.

Outputted CSV files do not include graphics.

In the bottom half of the data insight page is a table with the data that is included in the data insight. This data is based on two things:

• The data insight type, which determines the kind of data that is collected with a specific purpose in mind.

• The filters and column selections that are applied to the data insight. These, in turn, come from two sources:

  • The Filter and Columns settings in the data insight definition.

  • Any changes to the filters (from the toolbar tool), the column configurations, and the graphic's quick filter that you make dynamically while viewing the data insight.

Tooltip with Details about Values

Mouseover any value in the Value column to display a tooltip with details about the value. A frame pops up with any available and relevant details about the value. Sometimes more details are relevant or available to present, and sometimes no more than you see in the Value column.

Copy Table Text to Your Clipboard

You can click into any cell on the table, highlight the text, and copy it (Ctrl+C) to our clipboard. You can then paste the text wherever you need it. This ensures that you accurately enter the data in search fields, queries, external programs, service ticketing systems, or any communications with colleagues or stakeholders, as needed.

When a data insight is open, you can take various actions on the data insight from the Actions menu available on each data insight. A user with viewer rights can take many actions on a data insight, but cannot change the data insight definition. Only the owner and editors can edit the data insight to change its definition.

Use the following steps to take any of the actions that you are allowed to do on a data insight that you are viewing:

1. Click the Actions icon in the far right of the toolbar to open a menu with the available actions.

2. Select the action you want to take. Depending on your role (owner, editor, viewer)

   • Edit (only owners and editors): Open the Edit Data Insight dialog to the Basic Information tab and edit any or all settings. For more information, see Editing a Data Insightin Adding, Editing, Copying, and Deleting Data Insights.

   • Schedule (only owners and editors): Open the Edit Data Insight dialog to the Schedule tab to change the scheduling settings. Before saving the data insight, you can edit settings on any other tabs as well.

   • Share (only owners and editors): Open the Edit Data Insight dialog to the Sharing tab to change who has access to the data insight and edit access rights. Before saving the data insight, you can edit settings on any other tabs as well. For more information, see Sharing Data Insights.

   • Save a Copy: Create a copy of the data insight with the currently set filters, column configurations, and Group By setting. The Sharing and Schedule settings from the original are cleared in the copy. For more information, see Copying a Data Insight in Adding, Editing, Copying, and Deleting Data Insights.

   • Save to Dashboard: Add a widget for the data insight to one of your existing or to a new dashboard tab. For more information, see Adding a Data Insight to Your Dashboard.

   • Delete (only owners): Remove the data insight from AAI. It disappears from all users screens, no more scheduled emails are sent.

   • Add to Favorites/ Remove from Favorites: Mark the data insight as a personal favorite, in which case it is added to the My Favorites tab views of the Data Insights list. Conversely, if it is already among your favorites, remove it from the list on your My Favorites tab.

   • Download (CSV): Create and download a CSV file with the data as it is filtered and configured in the data table at the moment when the file is created. For more information, see Actions for Downloading, Printing, and Emailing Data Insights.

   • Print (PDF): Create and download a PDF file that contains the graph and the data table with the data as it is filtered and configured at the moment when the file is created. For more information, see Actions for Downloading, Printing, and Emailing Data Insights.

   • Email (PDF): Send an email with a PDF attached to recipients that you specify and with the message that you enter. For more information, see Actions for Downloading, Printing, and Emailing Data Insights.

   Note:

   Remember that, if the data insight is shared with other users, any edits you save will affect those users' experience with the data insight.

See also:

• Understanding Data Insights

• The Data Insights Page