Using scatter plots - Amazon QuickSight

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Using scatter plots

Use scatter plots to visualize two or three measures across two dimensions.

Each bubble on the scatter plot represents one or two dimension values. The X and Y axes represent two different measures that apply to the dimension. A bubble appears on the chart at the point where the values for the two measures for an item in the dimension intersect. Optionally, you can also use bubble size to represent an additional measure.

Scatter plots show up to 2500 datapoints in aggregated and unaggregated scenarios regardless of whether a color or label dimension is used in the visual. For more information about how Amazon QuickSight handles data that falls outside display limits, see Display limits.

The icon for a scatter plot is as.


					Close up image of the scatter plot icon.

Scatter plot features

To understand the features supported by scatter plots, use the following table.

Feature Supported? Comments For more information
Changing the legend display Yes, with exceptions Scatter plots display a legend if you have the Group/Color field well populated. Legends on visual types in QuickSight
Changing the title display Yes Titles and subtitles on visual types in QuickSight in QuickSight
Changing the axis range Yes You can set the range for both the X and Y axes. Range and scale on visual types in QuickSight
Showing or hiding axis lines, grid lines, axis labels, and axis sort icons Yes Axes and grid lines on visual types in QuickSight
Changing the visual colors Yes Colors in visual types in QuickSight
Focusing on or excluding elements Yes, with exceptions You can focus on or exclude a bubble in a scatter plot, except when you are using a date field as a dimension. In that case, you can only focus on a bubble, not exclude it.

Focusing on visual elements

Excluding visual elements

Sorting No Sorting visual data in Amazon QuickSight
Performing field aggregation Yes You must apply aggregation to the fields you choose for the X axis, Y axis, and size, and can't apply aggregation to the field that you choose for the group or color. Changing field aggregation
Displaying unaggregated fields Yes On the field context menu, choose None to display unaggregated X and Y axis values. If your scatter plot shows unaggregated fields, you can't apply aggregations to the field that is in the color or label field well. Mixed aggregation is not supported for scatter plots.
Adding drill-downs Yes You can add drill-down levels to the Group/Color field well. Adding drill-downs to visual data in Amazon QuickSight

Creating a scatter plot

Use the following procedure to create a scatter plot.

To create a scatter plot
  1. On the analysis page, choose Visualize on the tool bar.

  2. Choose Add on the application bar, and then choose Add visual.

  3. On the Visual types pane, choose the scatter plot icon.

  4. From the Fields list pane, drag the fields that you want to use to the appropriate field wells. Typically, you want to use dimension or measure fields as indicated by the target field well. If you choose to use a dimension field as a measure, the Count aggregate function is automatically applied to it to create a numeric value.

    To create a scatter plot, drag a measure to the X axis field well, a measure to the Y axis field well, and a dimension to the Color or Label field well. To represent another measure with bubble size, drag that measure to the Size field well.

  5. (Optional) Add drill-down layers by dragging one or more additional fields to the Color field well. For more information about adding drill-downs, see Adding drill-downs to visual data in Amazon QuickSight.

Scatter plot use cases

You can choose to plot unaggregated values even if you are using a field on Color by using the aggregate option none on the field menu, which also contains aggregation options like sum, min, and max. If one value is set to be aggregated, the other value will be automatically set as aggregated. The same applies to unaggregated scenarios. Mixed aggregation scenarios are not supported, meaning that one value cannot be set as aggregated while the other is unaggregated. Note that the unaggregated scenario, which is the none option, is supported only for numerical values, while categorical values, such as dates or dimensions, will display only aggregate values, such as count and count distinct.

Using the none option, you can choose to set both X and Y values to either aggregated or unaggregated from the X axis and Y axis field menus. This will define whether or not values will be aggregated by dimensions in the Color and Label field wells. To get started, add the required fields and choose the appropriate aggregation based on your use case,as shown in the following sections.

Unaggregated use cases

  • Unaggregated X and Y values with Color

    unaggregated-color
  • Unaggregated X and Y values with Label

    unaggregated-label
  • Unaggregated X and Y values with Color and Label

    unaggregated-color-label

Aggregated use cases

  • Aggregated X and Y values with Color

    aaggregated-color
  • Aggregated X and Y values with Label

    aggregated-label
  • Aggregated X and Y values with Color and Label

    aggregated-color-label