Looker self-service Explores, tabbed dashboards, custom themes

Data teams seem to be constantly balancing the need for governed, trusted metrics with business needs for agility and ad-hoc analysis. To help bridge the gap between managed reporting and rapid data exploration, we are introducing several new features in Looker, to expand users’ self-service capabilities. These updates allow individuals to analyze local data alongside governed models, organize complex dashboards more effectively, and align the look and feel of their analytics with corporate branding, all within the Looker platform.

Analyze ad-hoc data with Looker self-service Explores

Valuable data often exists outside of the primary database — whether in budget spreadsheets, sales lists, or ad-hoc research files. With self-service Explores, now in Preview, users can upload CSV and spreadsheet-based data using a drag-and-drop interface directly within Looker.

This feature allows users to combine local files with fully modeled Looker data to test new theories and enrich insights. Once uploaded, users can visually add new measures and dimensions to their self-service Explores, customize them, and share the results via dashboards and Looks.