# How to analyze your data

## Analyze Data in Daasity: Explores, Dashboards, and Collections

This guide shows how to do ad‑hoc analysis with **Looker Explores**, monitor KPIs with **Dashboards**, and organize your work in **Collections**. It’s written for business users and analysts who want a fast, reliable workflow.

***

### How Daasity Organizes Your Data

Daasity provides a curated semantic layer in Looker so you can analyze accurate, unified metrics without wrangling joins.

* **Unified models (recommended for most reporting):**
  * **UOS – Unified Order Schema:** Direct‑to‑consumer orders, revenue, discounts, refunds.
  * **URS – Unified Retail Schema:** Retail/wholesale performance across retailers and channels.
* **Source‑specific models:** When a vendor/source doesn’t cleanly join to others or you need raw, channel‑level detail.
* **Dimensions vs. Measures:**
  * **Dimensions** are “fields you group by” (e.g., Product Name, Order Date, Traffic Source).
  * **Measures** are calculations (e.g., Net Sales, Orders, AOV).

> **Why isn’t everything in one Explore?**\
> Different data sets have different grains and join rules. Combining them can create duplicates or incorrect totals. Separate Explores keep queries fast and results trustworthy.

***

### When to Use Explores vs. Dashboards

| If you want to…                                        | Use                       |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------- |
| Ask a one‑off question or iterate quickly              | **Explore**               |
| Start from a best‑practice template of fields/filters  | **Quick Start (Explore)** |
| Monitor a set of KPIs and trends over time             | **Dashboard**             |
| Make a small change to a dashboard tile and dig deeper | **Explore from here**     |

***

### Pick the Right Explore

Explores are grouped by **subject area**. Start with your business question, then choose the matching subject.

**Common subject areas**

* Orders, Customers, Marketing, Traffic
* Inventory, Returns, Shipping, Subscribers

**Examples**

* DTC revenue trend → **UOS (Orders)**
* Retail sell‑through across accounts → **URS (Retail)**
* Channel‑specific deep dive (e.g., ad platform raw data) → **Source‑specific Explore**

***

### Start in an Explore: Blank or Quick Start

You can begin from a blank slate or use a pre‑curated **Quick Start** with common fields, filters, and visual defaults.

**Blank Explore (full control)**

1. Open **Explore** and select the model (e.g., **UOS** or **URS**).
2. Add **Dimensions** (e.g., Order Date) and **Measures** (e.g., Net Sales).
3. Apply filters, click **Run**.
4. Choose a visualization and tweak formatting.

**Quick Start (faster)**

1. Open **Explore** and pick the model.
2. Select a **Quick Start** (e.g., “Orders by Day (Net)”).
3. Review the pre‑loaded fields/filters; adjust if needed.
4. Click **Run** and customize the visualization.

> **Best practice:** Start with a Quick Start for common questions; switch to a blank Explore for bespoke analyses.

***

### Dashboards = Collections of Tiles (Each Tile Is a Saved Explore View)

A **dashboard** is a page of **tiles**. Each tile is backed by an individual **saved Explore view** (a specific query + visualization).

* Use dashboards for **monitoring** and sharing KPIs.
* Each tile can be opened for deeper analysis with **Explore from here** (see below).
* You can **clone** dashboards or add your own tiles from saved Explore views.

***

### “Explore from Here” (Adjust Any Dashboard Tile Safely)

When a dashboard tile raises a new question:

1. On the tile, open the **⋯** menu and choose **Explore from here**.
2. You’ll land on the underlying Explore with the tile’s fields/filters pre‑applied.
3. Adjust fields, filters, pivots, or visualization.
4. **Save** your adjusted analysis (see **Collections** below). You won’t change the original dashboard tile unless you explicitly update it.

> **Tip:** Use “Explore from here” to keep the dashboard stable while you iterate in your own workspace.

***

### Work Faster: Pivots, Filters, and Visualizations

#### Pivoting

* Hover over a **Dimension** and click **Pivot** to turn its values into columns.
* Keep pivoted columns **under \~50** for snappy browser performance. (Up to **200** pivoted values supported; visibility often limited for performance.)
* Sort columns by clicking headers; **Shift + click** for multi‑column sort.
* To unpivot, use the gear menu (**Unpivot**) or click the Pivot icon again.
* Include at least **one unpivoted Dimension** and **one Measure**.

#### Filtering

* **Basic filters:** Use the filter icon next to any field in the picker.
* **Advanced:** **matches (advanced)** supports pattern matching for complex expressions.
* **Custom Filter:** Build compound logic using Looker expressions.
* **Behavior:**
  * **Dimension filters** limit the raw rows considered.
  * **Measure filters** apply **after** aggregation (e.g., only show products where Net Sales > X).
* **Limits:** Set row/column limits to keep queries responsive (typical defaults: up to **5,000 rows** and **200 columns**).

#### Visualization

* Quick‑switch among **Table, Column, Bar, Line, Pie**, etc.
* Click **Edit** to configure axes, series, labels, number formatting, and totals.
* For tables, add row/column **Totals** and drag headers to **reorder** columns.

> **Performance tip:** Prefer fewer, more targeted fields; use filters and modest pivots to keep results fast and readable.

***

### Quick Decision Guide: Choosing the Correct Explore

1. **Define the question:** Revenue trend? Cohort behavior? Traffic source? Inventory position?
2. **Match the subject area:** Orders, Customers, Marketing, Traffic, Inventory, Returns, Shipping, Subscribers.
3. **Pick unified vs. source‑specific:**
   * Use **UOS/URS** for standardized, cross‑source reporting.
   * Use **source‑specific** when you need vendor‑level details that don’t belong in a unified model.

***

### FAQs

**Can I customize a default dashboard tile?**\
Yes. Use **Explore from here**, make changes, and **Save** to your **Private** or **Shared** Collection. You can also clone the dashboard and replace tiles.

**Where should I save finished analyses?**\
Place team‑relevant, stable content in a **Shared** subcollection. Keep drafts in **Private**.

**What if I don’t see an Explore I need?**\
Some models are permissioned or require enablement. Contact your admin or Daasity Support.

***

### What to Read Next

* **Accessing Explores** – Find and open Explores in your environment
* **Scheduling & Alerts** – Send results to Slack/email on a schedule
* **Permissions & Sharing** – Control who can view or edit your assets

> **Remember:** Use **Explores** to answer questions quickly, **Dashboards** to monitor what matters, and **Collections** to keep everything organized and shareable.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://help.daasity.com/getting-started/quickstart-guides/how-to-analyze-your-data.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.