Datawisp 2023 Roadmap - dashboards, streamlined query builder, views, charts, and more
After some much needed time off for the holidays, the whole team at Datawisp is back to work to build the best possible platform for working with data.
In closed beta our goal was simply to build a working product. In open beta, our focus is on adding crucial features that will dramatically improve the Datawisp user experience. We recently hired two new engineers (welcome Nathan and Tomasz) and have some exciting features in the works.
Here’s a quick overview of everything we’re working on, what it will do, and when we expect it to go live.
Any questions? Don't hesitate to reach out.
Open Beta (live)
We expect these features to be implemented during our open beta period (roughly 1H2023)
New Data Sources
Obviously, the first step of using any analysis platform is being able to easily import the data you’re working with. We’re expanding our supported platforms to include some popular databases / warehouses, new blockchains, and more. Snowflake, BigQuery, Polygon, and more are on the list - but do let us know if we can support another platform that your organization currently uses.
We’re also adding support for much needed data types, better handling of null values, and a few other features to make the importing process seamless.
Dashboards and Notebooks
Sometimes it’s beneficial to just look at a few tables/charts and not an entire Datawisp sheet. We’re aware of this and are working on our own “dashboarding” tool that solves some of the biggest issues we’ve seen with traditional dashboards - namely that they’re meant to be consumed as is and not interacted with.
Dashboard viewers will be able to click any chart and be taken to the Datawisp sheet that created it, where they can see exactly what data was used to create it and (if they have the right permissions) edit it to their liking.
Notebooks will allow analysts to share a collection of charts/graphs along with notes and necessary contextual information, all with a clickable table of contents. This will make it easier to share not just data but the narrative around that data, and promote conversations about data initiatives.
Streamlined Query Builder
Our goal is to reduce the amount of physical space that Datawisp queries take up. We want to cut down the number of blocks by 50% by combining the most commonly used ones together. We’ve done it before, and our new designs are far more efficient. Hang tight.
Views
With views, any user can take the output of a query and use it as an input for something else. This has a lot of potential applications - some that we can think of are:
Simplifying large complex sheets into smaller, more easily manageable sheets
Cleaning a data set with one Datawisp sheet and then granting access to multiple other users (e.g. data analysts) to query only that clean data (for governance purposes)
Creating a data marketplace where users can make certain kinds of queries readily available for others in an easily searchable way
Charts
We heard you loud and clear: our charts suck. To date we’ve been largely focused on getting to the right output, not necessarily making it pretty. Expect an overhaul to our chart block that enables all the functionality you’d expect from something like Excel or Tableau (e.g. changing axes, colors, units, ranges) as well as new chart types and improved chart block behaviors.
Advanced Query Optimization
As they say, “first make it work, then make it good, then make it efficient.” Now that Datawisp works, we’re working on making it better and more efficient for our customers. We’ve got some plans that will dramatically reduce the time it takes to import data and refresh / process worksheets.
Post-Launch
We expect to launch these features once Datawisp version 1.0 is out (early 2H2023)
Improved Datawisp Output API
We want to make it as easy as possible to take anything you do in Datawisp and send it to another piece of software that your company relies on. That’s why we’re upgrading the Datawisp output API to do just that.
Big Data Support
While processing terabytes of data is in many ways a solved problem, we still have work to do so this works smoothly with our visual interface. We’re reworking our internal database engine to deal with larger amounts of data, so Datawisp can work with even the largest datasets.
Remote SQL Compiler
Most companies already store their data in an easily accessible way (e.g. a MySQL database, Snowflake)., taking advantage of infrastructure integrations is crucial to efficiently analyzing data. We’re adding a feature that leverages the power of existing storage options to make Datawisp run as efficiently (and cheaply) as possible.
Data Governance
We’ve already added helpful features to allow users to share data with only those who are meant to see it. However, data governance is about more than just sharing and access controls. We’re implementing some new governance features to make sure everyone in your organization always uses the best data available to them, including better team and project management, version control, advanced permissions, and more.
Audit Tools
In any organization, it’s always important to keep track of who does what with the tools you are using. With our audit tools you should see exactly who in your organization did what with datawisp - just to make sure everything is as it should be.