In the era of data-driven decision-making, the way information is presented often holds as much value as the data itself. SAP Lumira, SAP's data visualization and storytelling tool, empowers users to explore data interactively. One of its most powerful capabilities is the ease with which users can customize colors, labels, and tooltips to enhance visual clarity and storytelling.
This article provides a practical guide for SAP professionals on customizing these visual elements to create more engaging and meaningful visualizations.
Effective data visualization is not just about showing numbers—it's about telling a story. Customizing colors, labels, and tooltips helps:
- Highlight key insights and trends.
- Enhance readability for end users.
- Align visuals with corporate branding or stakeholder preferences.
- Guide user interpretation through contextual clues.
SAP Lumira allows users to change colors for different elements in a chart, such as bars, lines, or pie slices:
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Steps:
- Select the visualization.
- Open the “Properties” panel.
- Under the “Color” section, choose “Color By” dimension.
- Click on each color block to select a custom color or input a HEX/RGB value.
For advanced visual storytelling, conditional formatting can be applied to dynamically change colors based on business logic.
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Example:
- Use red to highlight sales regions under target, green for those exceeding target.
- Go to “Measure Formatting” > “Thresholds” and define custom ranges and associated colors.
- Choose from predefined Lumira palettes or create a custom palette to ensure consistency across all dashboards.
- Maintain brand consistency by using corporate-approved colors.
Data labels add immediate context to charts by showing values, percentages, or categories directly on the visualization.
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Steps:
- Select the chart.
- In the “Properties” pane, toggle the “Show Data Labels” option.
- Customize position (inside, outside, center) and format (number, currency, percentage).
- Rename dimensions or measures directly in the dataset or visualization panel.
- Use descriptive labels that are user-friendly (e.g., change “Revenue_2024” to “2024 Revenue (USD)”).
- Font size, color, and weight can be adjusted for emphasis.
- Useful in executive dashboards where clarity and precision are paramount.
Tooltips offer detailed, contextual data when a user hovers over elements in a visualization.
- SAP Lumira automatically displays basic details (e.g., dimension and measure values).
- This is helpful but may not convey full context.
- Add multiple measures or calculated fields to the tooltip to enrich the user experience.
- Example: For a bar showing sales, include units sold, profit margin, and year-over-year growth in the tooltip.
- For advanced use cases, scripting (e.g., in Lumira Designer) allows creating dynamic, conditional tooltips based on user interactions.
- Ideal for enterprise-level dashboards with complex data interdependencies.
- Avoid Overuse of Colors: Too many colors can overwhelm users; use them strategically.
- Maintain Accessibility: Use colorblind-friendly palettes and readable label fonts.
- Consistency Across Visuals: Use the same formatting rules across charts for a unified look.
- Keep Tooltips Informative but Concise: Provide essential info without cluttering.
Customizing colors, labels, and tooltips in SAP Lumira is more than a cosmetic exercise—it's a strategic approach to enhancing the effectiveness of your visual analytics. With thoughtful customization, SAP professionals can ensure that their dashboards not only look good but also communicate insights more clearly and effectively.
By leveraging these features, SAP Lumira becomes a powerful storytelling companion, helping organizations turn raw data into actionable intelligence.