¶ Customizing Legends and Axes for Clearer Visualizations in SAP Lumira
Data visualization is central to the effectiveness of any analytics tool, and SAP Lumira excels in transforming raw data into insightful, visually appealing stories. However, even the best charts can be confusing if legends and axes are not clearly presented. Customizing legends and axes properly in SAP Lumira enhances readability, improves user comprehension, and ultimately drives better business decisions.
In this article, we explore how to customize legends and axes in SAP Lumira to create clearer, more intuitive visualizations.
¶ Why Customize Legends and Axes?
Legends and axes serve as the guideposts of any chart or graph:
- Legends explain what each color, shape, or pattern represents.
- Axes provide context for values and categories, anchoring the data visually.
When these elements are unclear or cluttered, users struggle to interpret the data, which defeats the purpose of visualization.
Customizing these components helps:
- Remove ambiguity
- Highlight important data points
- Make charts accessible to a broader audience
By default, SAP Lumira places legends either on the right or bottom of the visualization, but depending on the chart and screen layout, repositioning the legend can improve clarity.
- In the Visualize room, select the chart.
- Open the Properties panel.
- Under Legend Settings, choose to position the legend at the top, bottom, left, or right.
- For dashboards with limited horizontal space, placing legends on the top or bottom may be more space-efficient.
Meaningful legend text is crucial:
- Rename legend items to user-friendly labels that match business terminology.
- Avoid technical jargon or codes that users may not understand.
- To edit legend labels, modify the underlying data dimension or alias the dimension values in the Prepare room.
Sometimes, legends can be hidden if they are redundant:
- If the chart has direct labels (e.g., data labels on pie slices), consider hiding the legend.
- Toggle legend visibility via the Properties panel for a cleaner look.
Clear axis titles and labels help users understand the metrics:
- Click on the axis title to edit it directly, making it descriptive (e.g., “Sales Revenue (USD)” instead of just “Sales”).
- Use the Properties panel to customize font size, style, and color for better readability.
¶ 2. Adjust Axis Scale and Range
Improper axis scaling can distort data interpretation:
- In the Properties panel, set custom minimum and maximum values for axes to focus on relevant data ranges.
- Use logarithmic scales if data spans several orders of magnitude.
- Auto-scaling can sometimes compress or expand data unintentionally, so manual adjustment may be needed.
Tick marks and gridlines guide the eye across the chart:
- Enable or disable gridlines based on chart type and user preference.
- Customize the frequency of tick marks to avoid overcrowding on dense charts.
- Choose subtle colors for gridlines to reduce visual noise while maintaining guidance.
¶ 4. Handle Date and Time Axes
When dealing with time series data:
- Set date/time formats that match user expectations (e.g., MM/YYYY, DD-MMM).
- Use hierarchies (year → quarter → month) to enable drill-down and better temporal analysis.
¶ Practical Tips for Effective Legends and Axes
- Keep it Simple: Don’t overload legends or axes with too much information.
- Consistency: Use uniform labels, colors, and scales across multiple charts in the same dashboard.
- User-Centric Labels: Always tailor legends and axes to your target audience’s familiarity.
- Test Visualizations: Preview charts on different screen sizes to ensure legends and axes remain clear.
Customizing legends and axes in SAP Lumira is essential to create polished, professional, and user-friendly visualizations. By paying attention to these details, you help users quickly grasp the meaning behind the data, enabling faster, more confident decision-making.
When legends and axes are thoughtfully designed, your SAP Lumira dashboards become powerful storytelling tools that communicate insights clearly and effectively.