Performance Analytics widgets
Summarize
Summary of Performance Analytics widgets
Performance Analytics widgets in ServiceNow Yokohama enable you to create visualizations for indicator scores and display them on dashboards. These widgets link indicators to visual formats such as trend lines, columns, or pie charts, allowing filtering and grouping by breakdowns and application of time series functions (e.g., 7-day sums). Widgets are part of the Core UI front end and are not fully supported on Platform Analytics dashboards or UI Builder pages except in limited compatibility mode. This feature is currently in maintenance mode, with no new enhancements planned beyond security fixes.
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Key Features
- Widget creation and editing: Requires paadmin or papoweruser roles; any user can view widgets on dashboards.
- Dashboard interactions: Select breakdown elements to filter all widgets on a dashboard; clicking a widget score opens the Analytics Hub focusing on that indicator.
- Value rounding: Numeric values are abbreviated for readability (e.g., thousands as K, millions as M, billions as G), with minor rounding discrepancies possible.
- Widget types:
- Time Series: Shows indicator score changes over time (line, column, area charts).
- Breakdown: Groups scores by breakdown elements (scorecards, pie charts, funnels, treemaps).
- Score: Displays aggregate scores, potentially against targets (speedometer, latest score).
- List: Lists metrics for multiple indicators (scorecard, spider web).
- Pivot: Groups scores by two breakdown elements (heatmap).
- Text analytics: Visualizes word frequencies from user-entered text (word cloud).
- Workbench: Monitors multiple indicators and their relationships for workflows or processes.
- Security and access control: Starting with Quebec release, widget viewing respects indicator and breakdown ACLs; older instances may require the paviewer role for some widgets after upgrade.
- Accessibility: Enabling the "data table for charts and graphs" preference replaces graphical charts with tables for better accessibility across all Performance Analytics widgets except Workspace widgets, which show both.
What This Enables You to Do
ServiceNow customers can use Performance Analytics widgets to visually analyze and monitor key performance indicators effectively on dashboards. The variety of widget types supports diverse visualization needs, from trend analysis to detailed breakdowns and text analytics. Security controls ensure appropriate access to sensitive data, while accessibility options improve usability for all users.
When interacting with dashboards, users can filter data globally or drill down into detailed analytics through the Analytics Hub, enhancing data-driven decision-making. Understanding widget rounding and security behaviors helps manage expectations and maintain compliance.
Widgets enable you to define visualizations for indicator scores. Widgets are shown on dashboards.
This feature is in maintenance mode and is no longer being augmented or changed. Only security fixes to this feature will be addressed.
A Performance Analytics widget ties an indicator to a visualization, such as a trend line, a set of columns, or a pie chart. Within the widget, you can filter or group indicator scores by breakdowns. You can also apply time series functions, such as 7-day sums, to the scores.
Rounding off
Values between 10,000 and 999,999 are rounded off to the nearest thousand and abbreviated with a K, such as 11K for 11,234. Values between 1 million and 999,999,999 are rounded off to the nearest million and abbreviated with an M. Values of 1 billion and higher are rounded off to the nearest billion and abbreviated with a G.
Rounded calculations based on averages may be off by a small amount due to rounding errors.
Widget types and creation details
The first step in creating a widget is to select the type of widget to create. Base this decision on the business goals you are trying to achieve with the widget.
| Widget type | Purpose | Typical Visualizations |
|---|---|---|
| Time Series widget | Shows changes over time in indicator scores. | Line visualization is the most usual. Other visualizations are: spline, step, column, stacked column, area, and relative compare. |
| Breakdown widget | Groups indicator scores by the elements of a breakdown. | Scorecard, pie and similar charts, funnel and pyramid, column and similar charts, relative compare, line, Pareto, pivot scorecard, and treemap. |
| Score widget | Shows aggregate indicator scores. Can show an indicator score against a target. | Latest score, speedometer, real-time score. |
| List widget | Lists the metrics for several indicators. | Scorecard, spider web. |
| Pivot widget | Groups the scores of one indicator by the elements of two breakdowns. | Heatmap |
| Text analytics | Visualizes word frequencies and groupings in the text that users enter in forms | Word cloud |
| Workbench widget | Shows multiple indicators and their relations, to monitor a workflow or other process. | Workbench |
Security requirements for viewing widgets
Starting with Quebec, widgets follow indicator and breakdown access control lists (ACLs). Outside of ACLs, no roles are required for viewing widgets.
- List widgets follow indicator ACLs.
- When viewing breakdowns, breakdown ACLs apply.
- List widgets
- Text widgets
- The Breakdowns section of Workbench widgets
Upgraded instances cannot automatically follow the rules introduced in Quebec because of the variation in how ACLs are configured.
Data tables for widget accessibility
If under Preferences you have enabled , tables replace the graphical charts for all Performance Analytics widgets on your instance. Workspace widgets are an exception, as they show both charts and tables. For more information about accessibility and widgets, including how to replace colors with patterns, see Accessibility options on dashboards.