My Favorite Analysis Workspace Right-Clicks – Part 1

If you use Adobe Analytics, Analysis Workspace has become the indispensable tool of choice for reporting and analysis. As I mentioned back in 2016, Analysis Workspace is the future and where Adobe is concentrating all of its energy these days. However, many people miss all of the cool things they can do with Analysis Workspace because much of it is hidden in the [in]famous right-click menus. Analysis Workspace gurus have learned “when in doubt, right-click” while using Analysis Workspace. In this post, I will share some of my favorite right-click options in Analysis Workspace in case you have not yet discovered them.

Freeform Table – Compare Attribution Models

If you are an avid reader of my blog, you may recall that I recently shared that a lot of attribution in Adobe Analytics is shifting from eVars to Success Events. Therefore, when you are using a freeform table in Analysis Workspace, there may be times when you want to compare different attribution models for a metric you already have in the table. Instead of forcing you to add the metric again and then modify its attribution model, you can now choose a second attribution model right from within the freeform table. To do this, just right-click on the metric header and select the Compare Attribution Model option:

This will bring up a window asking you which comparison attribution model you want to use that looks like this:

Once you select that, Analysis Workspace will create a new column with the secondary attribution model and also automatically create a third column that compares the two:

My only complaint here is that when you do this, it becomes apparent that you aren’t sure what attribution model was being used for the column you had in the first place. I hope that, in the future,  Adobe will start putting attribution model indicators underneath every metric that is added to freeform tables, since the first metric column above looks a bit confusing and only an administrator would know what its allocation is based upon eVar settings in the admin console. Therefore, my bonus trick is to use the Modify Attribution Model right-click option and set it to the correct model:

In this case, the original column was Last Touch at the Visitor level, so modifying this keeps the data as it was, but now shows the attribution label:

This is just a quick “hack” I figured out to make things clearer for my end-users… But, as you can see, all of this functionality is hidden in the right-click of the Freeform table visualization. Obviously, there are other uses for the Modify Attribution Model feature, such as changing your mind about which model you want to use as you progress through your analysis.

Freeform Table – Compare Date Range

Another handy freeform table right-click is the date comparison. This allows you to pick a date range and compare the same metric for the before and after range and also creates a difference column automatically. To do this, just right-click on the metric column of interest and specify your date range:

This what you will see after you are finished with your selection:

In this case, I am looking at my top blog posts from October 11 – Nov 9 compared to the prior 30 days. This allows me to see how posts are doing in both time periods and see the percent change. In your implementation, you might use this technique to see product changes for Orders and Revenue.

Cohort – Create Segment From Cell

If you have situations on your website or mobile app that require you to see if your audience is coming back over time to perform specific actions, then the Cohort visualization can be convenient. By adding the starting and ending metric to the Cohort visualization, Analysis Workspace will automatically show you how often your audience (“cohorts”) are returning. Here is what my blog Cohort looks like using Blog Post Views as the starting and ending metrics:

While this is interesting, what I like is my next hidden right-click. This is the ability to automatically create a segment from a specific cohort cell. There are many times where you might want to build a segment of people who came to your site, did something and then came back later to do either the same thing or a different thing. Instead of spending a lot of time trying to build a segment for this, you can create a Cohort table and then right-click to create a segment from a cell. For example, let’s imagine that I notice a relatively high return rate the week after September 16th. I can right-click on that cell and use the Create Segment from Cell option:

This will automatically open up the segment builder and pre-populate the segment, which may look like this:

From here you can modify the segment any way you see fit and then save it. Then you can use this segment in any Adobe Analytics report (or even make a Virtual Report Suite from it!). This is a cool, fast way to build cohort segments! Sometimes, I don’t even keep the Cohort table itself. I merely use the Cohort table to make the segment I care about. I am not sure if that is smart or lazy, but either way, it works!

Venn – Create Segment From Cell

As long as we are talking about creating segments from a visualization, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Venn visualization. This visualization allows you to add up to three segments and see the overlap between all of them. For example, let’s say that for some crazy reason I need to look at people who view my blog posts, are first-time visitors and are from Europe. I would just drag over all three of these segments and then select the metric I care about (Blog Post Views in this case):

This would produce a Venn diagram that looks like this:

While this is interesting, the really cool part is that I can now right-click on any portion of the Venn diagram to get a segment. For example, if I want a segment for the intersection of all three segments, I just right-click in the region where they all overlap like this:

This will result in a brand new segment builder window that looks like this:

From here, I can modify it, save it and use it any way I’d like in the future.

Venn – Add Additional Metrics

While we are looking at the Venn visualization, I wanted to share another secret tip that I learned from Jen Lasser while we traveled the country performing Adobe Insider Tours. Once you have created a Venn visualization, you can click on the dot next to the visualization name and check the Show Data Source option:

This will expose the underlying data table that is powering the visualization like this:

But the cool part is what comes next. From here, you can add as many metrics as you want to the table by dragging them into the Metrics area. Here is an example of me dragging over the Visits metric and dropping it on top of the Metrics area:

Here is what it looks like after multiple metrics have been added (my implementation is somewhat lame, so I don’t have many metrics!):

But once you have numerous metrics, things get really cool! You can click on any metric, and the Venn visualization associated with the table will dynamically change! Here is a video that shows what this looks like in real life:

This cool technique allows you to see many Venn visualizations for the same segments at once!

Believe it or not, that is only half of my favorite right-clicks in Analysis Workspace! Next week, I will share the other ones, so stay tuned!