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Looker Studio breaking its own rules
Jeff Sauer
September 25, 2025
In partnership with
Why our MeasureSummit speaker got a phone call mid-demo
Looker Studio just learned to break its own rules.
That's the only way to describe what Siavash showed us at the last MeasureSummit. While most of us accept that dashboards are one-way streets - data goes in, visualizations come out - Siavash asked a different question.
What if they could talk back?
Two years ago, clients kept asking him for impossible things. Could reports remember values between sessions? Could one dashboard communicate with another? Could a report trigger real-world actions?
The answer was always no. Looker Studio is a visualization tool, not an application.
Until now.
The Telepathy Breakthrough
Siavash cracked the code on "global parameters" - values that escape the browser session and live somewhere accessible to other reports.
In his live demo, he showed how you can enter a value into one report, switch to a completely different report and see the value appear.
Same organization, different reports, shared memory.
Think about the implications. CEOs can set company targets once and have them instantly appear across every dashboard. Teams can leave comments that persist and notify the right people. Analytics managers can sign off on data quality and everyone sees the verification status.
The Triggers Revolution
But telepathy was just the warm-up.
"Triggers" let Looker Studio reach into the real world. Enter specific keywords, and the system can send emails, SMS messages, or - as Siavash demonstrated by calling himself during the presentation - actual phone calls.
He built an entire coffee shop ordering system. Customers place orders on one Looker Studio report. Baristas see incoming orders on another. When coffee's ready, they mark it complete and the pickup screen updates automatically.
All within Looker Studio. No external applications.
Why This Matters
Most reporting solutions make you choose between powerful functionality and ease of use. Complex platforms require technical teams. Simple dashboards hit walls quickly.
Siavash found a third path - extending familiar tools beyond their intended limits.
His solutions use Google Sheets for storage, Zapier for automation, and tools most teams already understand. No APIs to learn. No custom development required.
The magic isn't in the complexity. It's in making the impossible feel obvious.
Check It Out
Siavash has open-sourced the tools he shared in the video. You can go here to see the details.
MeasureSummit 2025
Speaking of checking things out, we're excited to announce that MeasureU is hosting MeasureSummit 2025.
You'll get access to presentations like Siavash's, plus networking opportunities with the analytics community that's pushing boundaries and solving real problems.
Every year, MeasureSummit proves that innovation happens when smart people refuse to accept limitations. This year's lineup promises to be even stronger with a mix of new presenters and top-rated speakers from years past.
The future of reporting isn't about bigger databases or fancier charts.
It's about making data interactive, collaborative, and actionable.
Siavash just showed us how.
To Your Measured Success!
--Jeff Sauer
Co-Founder of MeasureU
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