Looker Studio Report Design

Workflow

Use templates/looker-studio-template.md to document the report design.

1. Define Purpose (Section 1): What needs to be monitored? What decisions will users make based on this report?

2. Discover Data (Section 2): Explore available datasets and understand schema.

   • Ask user for project/dataset context and business background
   • Use /bq-studio skill for BigQuery schema exploration
   • If prior analysis exists, reference it and skip detailed exploration

3. Define Metrics (Section 3): Define key metrics and dimensions to monitor.

   • Identify what needs to be measured
   • Define calculation methods and data sources

4. Design Data Sources (Section 4): Design BigQuery custom queries for Looker Studio.

   • Check existing resources: Similar reports or queries already exist?
   • Align time granularity with usage frequency (daily/weekly/monthly)
   • Pre-aggregate data in SQL for performance
   • Document query, field definitions, and parameters

5. Design Pages (Section 5): Design report pages, charts, and layout.

   • Design page structure and layout
   • Select appropriate chart types for each metric
   • Configure chart settings and filters

6. Configure Sharing (Section 6): Set up access permissions for the report.

   • Define who needs view/edit access
   • Document sharing settings

Best Practices

Reference Documentation

• Data types: Field data types (Number, Text, Date & Time, Currency, Percent, etc.)
• Types of charts: Chart types (Time series, Combo chart, Table, etc.)

Settings Documentation

• Verify setting names against actual Looker Studio UI before documenting
• Use exact terminology from the UI

Data Source Design

• One data source per analytical purpose
• Pre-aggregate in SQL for performance
• Include bucket fields for distribution analysis
• Include sort-order fields for proper chart ordering
• Descriptive data source names

Report Structure

• Separate pages by time granularity (daily/monthly)
• Group related metrics per page
• Consistent filter scopes within pages

Chart Type Selection