top of page
Bg.png

 WEBINAR ON DEMAND 

Modernize Your Analytics and Accelerate Your Move to Looker with Confidence

Migrating your Business Intelligence platform to Looker presents a powerful opportunity to modernize your data stack, but it requires careful planning and execution. This webinar provides a strategic roadmap for navigating the complexities of migration, from initial assessment to final rollout. We will focus on turning common challenges into strategic advantages by leveraging proven best practices and automation tools, ensuring you build a scalable and trusted analytics foundation on Looker.

How to Use Data History Playback in Looker to Visualize Change Over Time

What Data History Playback in Looker Does

Most dashboards tell you what is happening right now. You get a snapshot of current performance, but you cannot easily see how your data evolved over time unless you manually adjust filters or export data.

Data History Playback in Looker solves this limitation by animating your visualization across time. Instead of showing one static chart, Looker replays your data step by step, revealing how your metrics changed across days, weeks, or months. This helps teams understand trends more intuitively and communicate insights more clearly.

Playback is temporary and used for exploration. When the animation ends, the chart returns to its original static view.


Why Time-Based Playback Improves Trend Analysis

Time-based animation provides clarity that static charts often miss. Trends become easier to recognize, patterns stand out, and insights emerge faster.


Key advantages include:


1. Clearer trend discovery

Animation reveals seasonality, recurring patterns, or sudden spikes and drops that are less obvious in a still chart.

2. Better storytelling for stakeholders

Playback helps analysts show how performance changed during specific time periods such as product launches or promotional cycles.

3. More intuitive exploration

Seeing movement helps users understand why certain results occurred without guessing or relying on dense tables.

4. Stronger time comparisons

Playback highlights differences between periods like quarter to quarter, week to week, or year to year, making explanations easier.


Overall, it helps teams connect with the data more naturally and make decisions with greater clarity.


How to Enable Data History Playback in Looker


Steps to enable data history playback

Below is a practical, step-by-step guide to using playback inside a Looker dashboard.


Step 1. Confirm the Feature Is Enabled

Navigate to: Admin > General > Settings > Data History Playback

Ensure the feature status shows Enabled. If not, change it to Enabled and save the update.


Step 2. Prepare a Dashboard Tile with Time Data

Playback requires a tile that includes a valid time dimension.

You may use:

  • An existing tile containing a Date, DateTime, or Timestamp field or

  • Create a new tile in Explore

To create a new tile:

  1. Open Explore

  2. Add a time dimension

  3. Add at least one measure

  4. Select a visualization type such as line, bar, or area chart

  5. Run the query

  6. Save the tile to a dashboard

Looker can only animate tiles with actual time series data in the selected range.


Step 3. Open Playback Mode

  1. Open your dashboard

  2. Click the three dot menu on the tile

  3. Select Data History Playback

If the option is unavailable, either the feature is disabled or the tile does not contain a valid time field.


Step 4. Configure Time Fields and Playback Settings

When playback mode opens, you can set:


Time Field

Select the date or timestamp field that will drive the animation.


Granularity

Choose how the animation progresses:

  • Day

  • Week

  • Month

  • Quarter

  • Year


Date Range

Select a preset such as:

  • Last 7 days

  • Last 30 days

  • Last 3, 6, or 12 months

  • Year to date

  • Previous year or define a custom date range using the date picker.

After configuration, click Play to animate the chart.


Data history playback demo

Supported Looker Visualization Types

Data History Playback supports most native Cartesian visualizations, including:

  • Column

  • Bar

  • Line

  • Area

  • Scatter Plot

Custom visualizations are not supported at this time.

These chart types offer smooth and meaningful playback, making them ideal for time-based analysis.


Practical Use Cases for Data Playback in Looker

Retail

Animate monthly sales to identify seasonal peaks, promotional success, or inventory cycles.


Web and Marketing Analytics

Review how traffic changes throughout campaigns, product releases, or market shifts.


Manufacturing and Operations

Observe production output over time to analyze efficiency and detect bottlenecks.


Finance and Accounting

Visualize quarter-over-quarter revenue or expense movement to highlight trends and inflection points.

Playback gives each metric a clear timeline, making it easier to explain changes to stakeholders and accelerate decision making.


Key Benefits of Using Looker Playback for Time Series Analysis

Capability

Business Advantage

Animated time progression

Makes trend discovery easier

Native Looker feature

No external tools required

Uses existing dashboard tiles

Fast to adopt and implement

Configurable granularity

Supports short term and long term analysis

Ideal for presentations

Helps communicate insights clearly



 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page