Discover the new Sankey graphic in Looker Studio

Looker Studio is one of the most popular data visualization platforms on the market, as it allows you to create interactive and personalized visualizations in a simple and efficient way. Looker Studio has recently released a new type of Sankey chart that allows you to visually and dynamically represent the flow of data between different categories. In this article, we tell you everything you need to know about the new Sankey graphic in Looker Studio.

What is a Sankey chart?

A Sankey chart is a visualization that represents the flow of data between different categories or groups. This type of graph is commonly used in network data visualization, to show how data flows through different nodes. On a Sankey chart, categories are represented as nodes, and the connections between them are represented as lines of different widths.

How does the new Sankey chart work in Looker Studio?

The new Sankey chart in Looker Studio allows you to create interactive and custom visualizations of data flow between different categories. Similar to other Looker Studio charts, the Sankey chart can be customized in terms of layout, colors, labels, and legends. In addition, it is possible to interact with the Sankey chart, to filter and explore the data in a more detailed way.

How do you use the new Sankey graphic in Looker Studio?

To create it you must select the sankey option in the menu to add a graphic.

Next, you need to define the categories and data you want to represent, as well as customize the visualization in terms of layout and style. in the image below, the years and categories are taken as dimensions; and sales are taken as a metric. 

In graphic style you can:

Adjust the colors as you do in the other graphics:

1. Single color
2. Node order
3. Dimension values

In Link you can choose how those Link color mode will be displayed on the connections from node to node:

1. Default
2. Source color
3. Target color
4. Gradient

and you can also adjust Iterations ranging from 0 to 62, but a higher number leads to a more organized flowchart.

In Node, you can adjust the Node thickness  from 5 to 50, and the Node padding between them that can go from 10 to 60.

The image graphic was set to gradient Link color mode; number of Iterations at 62; Node thickness of 20 and Node padding of 60.

Conclusion:

The new Sankey chart in Looker Studio is a powerful and versatile tool for flow data visualization. With this new functionality, Looker Studio users can easily and efficiently create custom, interactive visualizations and explore data in a more detailed way. If you haven’t tried the new Sankey graphic in Looker Studio yet, don’t wait any longer and start using it today!