What Is the Investigation Flow?

The investigation flow is Axion’s core tool for exploring your data. Use it to identify root causes, spot patterns, and understand what’s driving issues. You can slice your data with filters, visualize trends over time, explore distributions across every field, and drill down to individual records.

Starting an Investigation

There are several ways to start an investigation:

• From the sidebar: Click Investigate (or Explore) in the navigation to open a fresh investigation.
• From Recent Searches: Revisit a previous investigation you ran recently.
• From Bookmarked Filters: Jump to a saved filter combination you’ve bookmarked.
• From anywhere in the platform: Click on any bar, data point, or chart element in the Command Center, a dashboard, or another chart to drill down and launch an investigation with those filters pre-applied.

Selecting Your Datasets

When you start an investigation, choose which datasets to include. Some workspaces have a single dataset, while others have several (for example, one for complaints and another for service records). Select the ones relevant to your analysis.

Building Filters

The filter builder lets you narrow your data using a drag-and-drop interface. Drag fields from the left panel into the filter zone to add conditions.

• SET A: Your primary filter set. Multiple filters in Set A use AND logic — records must match all conditions.
• SET B: An optional second filter set. Set A and Set B use OR logic between them — records matching either set are included.

As you add and adjust filters, the live record count updates in real time so you can see exactly how many records match your current criteria.

For categorical fields, you can choose “is in” or “is not in” and select specific values. For numeric fields, you can set conditions like “greater than,” “less than,” “equal to,” or “between.”

Exploring Your Results

Once your filters are set, explore the results across several tabs:

Time Tab

See your matching records plotted over time. Use the Color by control to break the timeseries down by a category, Date by to change the date field, and Aggregate by to switch between count, sum, or average.

Distributions Tab

View breakdowns of your filtered data across every field in your workspace. This is one of the most powerful views for identifying which dimensions are driving the pattern you’re investigating.

Data Tab

Browse individual records matching your filters. Use linked record filtering to cross-reference between datasets.

Additional Tabs

Depending on your workspace configuration, you may see additional chart tabs configured specifically for your team. These provide workspace-specific visualizations alongside the standard views.

Drill-Down

Axion supports drill-down from virtually anywhere in the platform. Click any bar on a chart — whether in the Command Center, a dashboard, or the investigation flow itself — to either apply those filters to your current investigation or launch a new one.

Saving an Investigation as an Issue

When your investigation reveals a pattern worth tracking, you can save it as a new issue. This is the primary way to create data-driven issues. Once saved, the issue appears on your board with the filters and data context preserved.

Tips for Effective Investigations

• Start broad, then drill down. Begin with a wide date range and minimal filters, then progressively narrow.
• Watch the live record counts as you add filters — a sudden drop can indicate a highly specific pattern.
• Bookmark useful filter combinations so you can return to them quickly.
• Use drill-down from the Command Center or dashboards as a fast path into investigation.