12.13. Parameter Example: Dynamic Filter Controls

Now that we've made everything dynamic, let's continue with creating more dynamic elements. We'll quickly cover dynamic filter controls and then move on to the other pages in our Looker Studio project.

Learning Objectives

After completing this lesson, students should be able to:

Understand the concept of dynamic filter controls in Looker Studio.
Create dynamic controls and dropdown menus using user prompts and CASE function.
Apply dynamic dimensions to charts, tables, and other components in Looker Studio.
Design a comprehensive exploration interface using dynamic elements.
Recognize the benefits of using dynamic filter controls for a personalized data exploration experience.

Main Concepts and Topics

In this lesson, we covered:

Dynamic filter controls: Controls that adjust based on user input, allowing for flexible data filtering.
CASE function: Functions that help create more dynamic filter controls by applying the result of a condition.
Dynamic dimensions: Dimensions that can change for components like charts, tables, and dropdown menus, allowing users to interact with the data more effectively.
Exploration interface: A comprehensive interface in Looker Studio that allows viewers to interact with data in ways that best suit their needs.

Dynamic Controls and User Interaction

Components like controls can also be made dynamic by user prompts. In a previous lesson, we discussed advanced filter controls, which allow users to filter data based on their input. For example, if a user types "par" in the source filter control, it filters the data to only show sources starting with "partners."

However, this advanced control doesn't directly apply the "source" dimension. Instead, it applies the result of a case function to create a more dynamic filter control.

Take this scenario: there's no "medium" starting with "palm," but if the user types "C" or "CP," the filter control adjusts accordingly. This shows that we can not only change the dimensions of charts and tables but also the dimensions assigned to a control.

Dynamic Dropdown Menus

A dropdown menu can also have dynamic dimensions. For example, if the dropdown menu is set to display "medium" values and you change it to "countries," the menu will show a list of countries instead. The dropdown doesn't have a fixed dimension—rather, it uses the result of the case function as its dimension.

With these dynamic filter controls and dropdown menus, you can create a comprehensive exploration interface in Looker Studio, making it as complex or simple as desired. This flexibility enables users to interact with the data in ways that best suit their needs, providing a more personalized and powerful data analysis experience.