Answer Explorer

Answer Explorer provides you with AI-guided exploration of Answers within Pinboards, so you can more easily find valuable and actionable information inside your data.

Answer Explorer, ThoughtSpot’s AI-guided exploration of Answers and headline metrics within Pinboards, provides you with valuable suggestions on how to explore and understand your data, based on two main criteria. The Answer Explorer AI considers both popularity and personalization. The feature suggests ways to answer questions that are relevant to many other users, and it takes into account your own ThoughtSpot history. Answer Explorer helps you better understand your data and get to actionable insights faster with just a click.

You can access Answer Explorer from any Answer or headline metric in a Pinboard. Click the Explore button that appears when you hover over any Answer or headline.

The Explore button

The Answer expands to fill your screen, and the Explore this data menu appears.

Explore this data

You can explore your data in several different ways, using filters, breakdowns, metrics, or comparisons. When you explore a headline, you can only use Answer Explorer to filter on it.

Use Answer Explorer to filter headline metrics

Answer Explorer’s AI updates its suggestions every time you add something new to your visualization. If you add a suggested filter, Answer Explorer then suggests new filters, breakdowns, metrics, and comparisons, based on that new filter in your chart. For example, in a retail data set, you might choose to add a filter for the west region. Answer Explorer might then suggest you break by store state, since you are interested in how your stores perform based on location. In this way, Answer Explorer’s suggestions become more relevant for you as you continue to use the feature.

Filters

Use Filters to narrow down your search result to only include the data you want to see. Answer Explorer uses sophisticated technology to show only the most relevant suggestions. Click Add to add a suggested filter to your visualization. You can click Show more to see even more suggestions.

If you want to filter on a column value that Answer Explorer did not suggest, you can search for it in the Filters search bar. Specify the column values you wish to see, such as Age group=65+, and press Enter.

Breakdowns

Use Breakdowns to visualize your data, separated by an attribute. For example, break by Store State to see which states have the best sales. If your Answer has a time attribute, you can easily change from daily to quarterly, and so on.

Break by store state

After you make a change to your Answer, you may want to go back to an earlier version of your Answer. You can click the Back icon icon arrow left 20px to go back one step, or the Reset icon icon reset 20px to go back to the original answer.

Metrics

Use Metrics to add other available measures. For example, you can add gross profit margin to view both sales and gross profit margin by store region.

Sales and gross profit margin

If you want to see gross profit margin instead of sales, click Show more and select Change sales to gross profit margin.

Gross profit margin by store region

Comparisons

Use Comparisons to easily perform a versus analysis. For example, Answer Explorer might suggest you compare your best- and worst-performing products.

Drill down with Answer Explorer

You can Drill down from within Answer Explorer. When you Drill down in Answer Explorer, you have the option of going back one step at a time, using the Back icon icon arrow left 20px. You cannot go back one step at a time if you Drill down on an Answer in a Pinboard, without using Answer Explorer.

See Drill down.

Save your new answer

When you find a valuable insight using Answer Explorer, you may want to save that Answer as it appears, instead of trying to recreate it in the Search bar.

  1. Click the ellipsis icon icon more 10px.

  2. Select copy and edit.

  3. Save your new Answer within ThoughtSpot and continue working with it.

  4. Alternatively, select Download to download an image of your current visualization.

You can also pin the current Answer to any Pinboard you have edit access to. Click the pin icon icon pin and select a Pinboard.

Otherwise, the Answer returns to its original state when you exit the Explore menu by clicking the X icon.