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Version: 9.2

Metric Comparisons

Comparing data from two equivalent time periods provides more meaningful insights than a simple year-over-year comparison. Qrvey provides metric charts such as indicator, dial, and bullet gauges to help create equivalent time period comparisons.

Use Cases​

Use equivalent period comparisons when you need apples‑to‑apples comparisons across time:

  • Year-to-date (YTD) for this year compared to YTD last year.
  • Month-to-date (MTD) compared to the equivalent MTD from the previous year.
  • Rolling windows (the last 30 days compared to the same 30‑day window one year ago).

These comparisons emphasize seasonal performance and avoid comparing a partial current period to a full previous period, which often occurs in year-over-year analyses.

Metric Comparison Tutorial​

The following tutorial video shows how to design a metric with comparison columns.

Tags: Metric, Chart, Comparison

Set Up a Comparison​

The following example creates an Indicator chart that includes a time period comparison.

  1. Select a dataset to analyze and open the Analyze tab.

  2. Select Metric View, then Add Metric to open the Chart Builder.

  3. Select Indicator Gauge from the chart palette.

  4. Select a column (for example, Product Inventory Quantity).

  5. Change the aggregation as needed. For example, you can change Sum to Average to show average inventory quantity rather than total inventory.

  6. Create an equivalent time period comparison.

    a. Open the Comparison panel and select a single date column to base the comparison on (for example, Modified Date).

    b. Select the current period as a named period (for example, This year, which represents January 1 through today).

    c. For the comparison period, select Custom Range to create an equivalent period last year.

    d. Select a context for the comparison (Before, After, Between).

    e. Rather than hard-coding dates, you can insert dynamic tokens to generate dynamic start and end dates for the comparison. To display available tokens, type two opening curly braces ({{) in a date field. For example:

    • {{LAST_YEAR_START}} — start of last year (January 1 of last year).
    • {{TODAY-365}} — the date 365 days before today.

    In this case, the comparison window aligns day‑for‑day with the current period.

  7. Select an option for visualizing the delta:

    • Percentage to clarify relative changes such as growth rates.
    • Absolute values to show raw differences.

  8. Adjust any visual formatting, such as fonts, symbol direction, and colors (you can change the default green/red/blue to match your design or color accessibility needs).

  9. Give the chart a clear title, such as Average Quantity Year over Year.

  10. Select Save Chart. The tokens are resolved when the chart is saved and rendered.

Formatting and Visualization Tips​

  • Symbols and direction promote immediate eye tracking.
  • Colors should align with your dashboard semantics (profit up = green, loss down = red).
  • Avoid relying on color alone. Use icons and labels too for accessibility.
  • Tokens are only resolved after the chart has been saved. If a comparison looks unresolved during editing, save the chart to view the final values.

Best Practices​

  • Do not try to apply filters for both current and prior periods simultaneously. Metric charts display a single metric; use the Comparison feature instead.
  • Use equivalent date ranges to create meaningful comparisons (for example, Jan 1-Feb 1 of this year to Jan 1-Feb 1 of last year). Avoid comparing YTD to the full previous year.