Decomposition Tree: Dynamic 'Explain By' Sync Across Multiple Trees

[lcordovab]

The Decomposition Tree is an invaluable tool for root cause analysis and understanding drivers of key financial metrics. While its cross-filtering capabilities are strong, there's a significant gap in creating truly linked, progressive analytical flows across multiple Decomposition Trees or even other hierarchical visuals.

Currently, if I select a node in Decomposition Tree A (e.g., 'Region'), Decomposition Tree B on the same page is filtered by that region. However, its 'Explain By' fields remain static.

We propose a feature that would allow a selection in a Decomposition Tree (or potentially any visual) to dynamically influence the 'Explain By' fields available or actively selected in another visual (specifically, another Decomposition Tree).

Business Problem: In financial analysis, we often need to explore a core metric by different dimensions depending on the initial breakdown. For example, after identifying a problematic region in a first Decomposition Tree, we might want to automatically present a second Decomposition Tree that immediately breaks down profitability by Product Line and Cost Center specifically for that selected region, without the user having to manually re-select 'Explain By' fields or navigate different views. This would significantly improve the user's analytical journey and reduce friction, enabling faster insights and more guided exploration.

Proposed Technical Solution: Consider an enhancement to visual interactions or the 'Explain By' field well itself, potentially allowing:

1. Conditional 'Explain By' Fields: The ability to define a DAX expression or a set of rules that dynamically changes the list of dimensions available in the 'Explain By' well of a target Decomposition Tree based on the filter context established by another visual (e.g., a selection in a source Decomposition Tree).
2. Programmatic Expansion: The ability to define which 'Explain By' dimensions a target Decomposition Tree should automatically expand into, based on a selection in a source visual. This could leverage a similar mechanism to drill-through but specifically for setting the initial expansion path.

This feature would unlock more sophisticated and intuitive guided analytics experiences, making Power BI even more powerful for complex financial investigations.