SAP Lumira is a robust self-service data visualization tool that allows users to create rich, interactive dashboards and stories from diverse data sources. While it offers a comprehensive library of standard chart types and visuals, businesses often require custom visuals to meet specific analytical needs or to align with unique branding guidelines.
Integrating custom visuals into SAP Lumira expands its native capabilities, enabling organizations to deliver tailored insights and improve user experience. This article explores the methods and best practices for integrating custom visuals into SAP Lumira, helping SAP professionals enhance their analytics toolkit.
Standard visuals like bar charts, pie charts, and line graphs cover many use cases, but some scenarios demand specialized or innovative visual representations, such as:
- Industry-specific charts (e.g., Sankey diagrams, heat maps)
- Interactive infographics
- Custom KPI widgets with unique formatting
- Visualizations that embed additional interactivity or animations
Custom visuals can improve clarity, engage users better, and reveal insights that standard charts may not highlight effectively.
SAP Lumira supports integrating custom visuals primarily through:
- SAP Lumira Extensions – Custom-built visualization components created using SAP’s Design Studio or Lumira SDK.
- Third-party Visual Libraries – Integration of open-source or commercial JavaScript charting libraries such as D3.js, Highcharts, or Chart.js.
- Custom Widgets – Custom HTML5-based widgets embedded inside Lumira stories.
¶ Step 1: Understand the SAP Lumira Extension Framework
SAP Lumira uses an extension framework that allows developers to package custom visuals as reusable components. These extensions can be imported and used like standard visualizations.
- Use the SAP Lumira Designer tool (previously Design Studio) to create the visual.
- Developers can code custom visualizations using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5.
- Connect the visual to Lumira’s data model to fetch datasets dynamically.
- Implement interactivity such as filtering, tooltips, and zooming.
- Package the custom visual as a Lumira extension file (.zip or .lums).
- Ensure it follows SAP’s extension development guidelines to maintain compatibility.
- Open SAP Lumira Desktop.
- Navigate to the Extensions or Visualization panel.
- Use the “Import Extension” option to upload your packaged visual.
- Once imported, the custom visual appears in the list of available charts.
- Drag and drop the custom visual onto your canvas.
- Bind data fields to the visual’s properties.
- Configure settings and customize appearance as needed.
- Preview and test the visual’s functionality.
- Performance: Optimize code for fast rendering, especially with large datasets.
- Responsiveness: Ensure visuals adapt well to different screen sizes and resolutions.
- User Experience: Provide intuitive controls and clear legends.
- Maintainability: Document the code and maintain version control.
- Compatibility: Test visuals across SAP Lumira versions and environments.
- Security: Avoid insecure scripts or external calls that could compromise data.
- Tailored insights with visuals designed specifically for your data and audience.
- Enhanced engagement through interactive and visually appealing charts.
- Ability to meet niche business requirements not covered by default charts.
- Increased flexibility and extensibility of SAP Lumira dashboards.
Integrating custom visuals into SAP Lumira empowers organizations to extend the platform’s native visualization capabilities and deliver richer, more meaningful analytics experiences. By leveraging SAP’s extension framework and modern web technologies, developers can create highly interactive, tailored visuals that enhance decision-making and storytelling.
For SAP professionals, mastering custom visual integration is a valuable skill that bridges the gap between standard analytics and bespoke business intelligence needs.