What advantage do LOD expressions provide users in Tableau?

LOD (Level of Detail) expressions in Tableau offer significant advantages, particularly when it comes to control over aggregation granularity. They allow users to specify the level of detail at which they want their calculations to be performed, independently of the visualization’s structure. This means users can create more nuanced insights by calculating metrics at different levels, regardless of the dimensions included in the view.

For instance, if you have a sales dataset and want to calculate the average sales per region, LOD expressions enable you to do this without altering the dimensions in your visual. This provides a layer of flexibility that helps in answering complex analytical questions that involve calculations at different levels, such as by customer and by product concurrently. Ultimately, LOD expressions empower users to conduct deeper data analysis and derive insights that would be difficult or impossible to achieve using standard aggregate functions alone.