What is a story?
A story answers: show me this calculation, displayed this way, optionally grouped, with optional filters and time context.
Stories are the visuals you place on boards.
Building blocks:
Piece | Role |
Measure or metric | The calculation |
Dimension or hierarchy | Optional grouping |
Visualization type | How the number is drawn |
Filter | Optional subset of records |
Time period / compare to | As-of date and optional comparison period |
Before you start
Create the measures, metrics, and dimensions (or hierarchies) the story will use.
Create or configure a story
Open Analytics → Manage Analytics.
Open the Stories area (or open a story from a board edit flow, if that is how your environment navigates).
Select the calculation (measure or metric).
Choose how to visualize it (see below).
Optionally set a grouping (dimension or hierarchy).
Optionally add a filter.
Set time period and optional compare to.
Set sort order and visualization-specific customization.
Name and describe the story; set privacy if it is not ready to share.
Save.
Visualization types
Choice | What you see |
Value | Simple KPI (one number) |
Breakdown | Pie chart |
Segment | Bar chart |
Trend | Line graph |
Data | Table |
Sort order
For grouped visuals, choose how buckets are ordered:
High to low — highest calculation first
Low to high — lowest first
Default — system default (usually an order that fits the grouping)
Customization
Each visualization type has its own customization options (personal preference for how the chart is drawn).
Example (segment / bar): Default may be horizontal; switch to vertical to put values on the Y axis and groupings on the X axis.
Filters on a story
Filters limit which records feed the instruction.
Example: Average salary by ethnicity, filtered to females only—same grouping, female population only.
Time period and compare to
Tell the story as of when:
As of today (common for ongoing monitoring)
As of last month, last quarter, last year, etc.
Compare to adds another series (for example, an extra bar) for a prior period so you can see improvement or regression.
Example: Average salary by ethnicity as of today compared to last year—if bars match, compensation equity may not have moved despite a stated goal.
Name, description, and privacy
Use the pencil (or equivalent) to edit name and description.
Private: Only you see the story—useful while building so coworkers do not place an unfinished story on a shared board. When ready for company-wide use, remove private so others can use it.
Snapshot and refresh
Camera / snapshot: Capture an image of the visual for slide decks (for example, end-of-quarter presentations). The image downloads for use in PowerPoint or similar.
Refresh: Reload data if the browser has been open a long time and teammates updated underlying data.