Learning Tableau 10 - Second Edition

Book description

Learn how to create effective data visualizations with Tableau and unlock a smarter approach to business analytics. It might just transform your organization

About This Book
  • Create stylish visualizations and dashboards that explain complexity with clarity

  • Learn effective data storytelling to transform how your business uses ideas and makes decisions

  • Explore all the new features in Tableau 10 and start to redefine what business analytics means to your organization

  • Who This Book Is For

    Got data? Not sure what to make of it? This is the guide for you – whether you’ve been working with Tableau for years or are just beginning your adventure into business analytics.

    What You Will Learn
  • Find out how to build effective visualizations and dashboards

  • Prepare and clean your data so you can be sure Tableau is finding answers to your questions – not raising more problems

  • Discover how to create advanced visualizations that explain complexity with clarity and style

  • Dig deeper into your data with clustering and distribution models that allow you to analyze trends and make forecasts

  • Learn how to use data storytelling to aid decision-making and strategy

  • Share dashboards and visualizations to cultivate a culture where data is available and valued

  • In Detail

    Tableau has for some time been one of the most popular Business Intelligence and data visualization tools available. Why? Because, quite simply, it’s a tool that’s responsive to the needs of modern businesses. But it’s most effective when you know how to get what you want from it – it might make your business intelligent, but it isn’t going to make you intelligent…

    We’ll make sure you’re well prepared to take full advantage of Tableau 10’s new features. Whether you’re an experienced data analyst that wants to explore 2016’s new Tableau, or you’re a beginner that wants to expand their skillset and bring a more professional and sharper approach to their organization, we’ve got you covered. Beginning with the fundamentals, such as data preparation, you’ll soon learn how to build and customize your own data visualizations and dashboards, essential for high-level visibility and effective data storytelling. You’ll also find out how to so trend analysis and forecasting using clustering and distribution models to inform your analytics.

    But it’s not just about you – when it comes to data it’s all about availability and access. That’s why we’ll show you how to share your Tableau visualizations. It’s only once insights are shared and communicated that you – and your organization – will start making smarter and informed decisions. And really, that’s exactly what this guide is for.

    Style and approach

    Practical yet comprehensive, this Tableau guide takes you from the fundamentals of the tool before diving deeper into creating advanced visualizations. Covering the latest features found in Tableau 10, this might be the guide that transforms your organization.

    Table of contents

    1. Learning Tableau 10 Second Edition
      1. Learning Tableau 10 Second Edition
      2. Credits
      3. About the Author
      4. About the Reviewers
      5. www.PacktPub.com
        1. Why subscribe?
      6. Preface
        1. What this book covers
        2. What you need for this book
        3. Who this book is for
        4. Conventions
        5. Reader feedback
        6. Customer support
          1. Downloading the example code
          2. Downloading the color images of this book
          3. Errata
          4. Piracy
          5. Questions
      7. 1. Creating Your First Visualizations and Dashboard
        1. Connecting to data
        2. Foundations for building visualizations
          1. Measures and dimensions
          2. Discrete and continuous
            1. Discrete fields
            2. Continuous fields
        3. Visualizing data
        4. Creating bar charts
          1. Iterations of bar charts for deeper analysis
        5. Creating line charts
          1. Iterations of line charts for deeper analysis
        6. Creating geographic visualizations
          1. Filled maps
          2. Symbol maps
        7. Using Show Me
        8. Bringing everything together in a dashboard
          1. Building your dashboard
        9. Summary
      8. 2. Working with Data in Tableau
        1. The Tableau paradigm
          1. A simple example
        2. Connecting to data
          1. Connecting to data in a file
          2. Connecting to data on a server
          3. Connecting to data in the cloud
          4. Shortcuts for connecting to data
        3. Managing data source metadata
        4. Working with extracts instead of live connections
          1. Creating extracts
          2. Using extracts
          3. Performance
          4. Portability and security
          5. When to use an extract
        5. Tableau file types
        6. Joins and blends
          1. Joining tables
          2. Cross – database joins
          3. Blending data sources
            1. Blending example
        7. Filtering data
          1. Filtering discrete fields
          2. Filtering continuous fields
          3. Filtering dates
          4. Other filtering options
        8. Summary
      9. 3. Moving from Foundational to More Advanced Visualizations
        1. Comparing values across different dimensions
          1. Bar charts
          2. Bar chart variations
            1. Bullet chart – showing progress toward a goal
            2. Bar in bar chart
            3. Highlighting categories of interest
        2. Visualizing dates and times
          1. The built-in date hierarchy
          2. Variations of date and time visualizations
          3. Gantt charts
        3. Relating parts of the data to the whole
          1. Stacked bars
          2. Treemaps
          3. Area charts
          4. Pie charts
        4. Visualizing distributions
          1. Circle charts
            1. Jittering
          2. Box and whisker plots
          3. Histograms
        5. Visualizing multiple axes to compare different measures
          1. Scatterplot
          2. Dual axis
          3. Combination charts
        6. Summary
      10. 4. Using Row-Level, Aggregate, and Level of Detail Calculations
        1. Creating and editing calculations
        2. Overview of the three main types of calculations
          1. Row Level examples
          2. Aggregate Level example
          3. Row Level or Aggregate – why does it matter?
        3. Level of Detail calculations
          1. Level of Detail syntax
          2. Level of Detail example
        4. Parameters
          1. Creating parameters
        5. Practical examples of calculations and parameters
          1. Fixing data issues
          2. Extending the data
          3. Enhancing user experience, analysis, and visualizations
          4. Achieving flexibility with data blends
        6. Ad hoc calculations
        7. Performance considerations
        8. Summary
      11. 5. Table Calculations
        1. Overview of table calculations
          1. Creating and editing table calculations
        2. Quick table calculations
        3. Relative versus fixed
        4. Scope and direction
          1. Working with scope and direction
        5. Addressing and partitioning
          1. Advanced addressing and partitioning
        6. Custom table calculations
        7. Practical examples
          1. Year – over – Year growth
          2. Ranking within higher levels
          3. Late filtering
        8. Data densification
          1. When and where data densification occurs
          2. An example of leveraging data densification
        9. Summary
      12. 6. Formatting a Visualization to Look Great and Work Well
        1. Formatting considerations
        2. Understanding how formatting works in Tableau
          1. Worksheet level formatting
          2. Field-level formatting
          3. Additional formatting options
        3. Adding value to visualizations
          1. Tooltips
        4. Summary
      13. 7. Telling a Data Story with Dashboards
        1. Dashboard objectives
        2. Example - is least profitable always unprofitable?
          1. Building the views
          2. Creating the dashboard framework
          3. Implementing actions to tell the story
        3. Designing for different displays and devices
        4. How actions work
          1. Filter actions
          2. Highlight actions
          3. URL actions
        5. Example - regional scorecard
        6. Stories
        7. Summary
      14. 8. Deeper Analysis – Trends, Clustering, Distributions, and Forecasting
        1. Trending
          1. Customizing trend lines
          2. Trend models
          3. Analyzing trend models
        2. Clustering
        3. Distributions
        4. Forecasting
        5. Summary
      15. 9. Making Data Work for You
        1. Structuring data for Tableau
          1. Good structure - tall and narrow instead of short and wide
            1. Wide data
            2. Tall data
            3. Wide and tall in Tableau
          2. Good structure - star schemas
        2. Techniques for dealing with data structure issues
          1. Restructuring data in Tableau connections
          2. Union files together
            1. Originals
            2. Prequels
            3. Sequels
          3. Cross-database joins
          4. Working with different Level of Detail
        3. Overview of advanced fixes for data problems
        4. Summary
      16. 10. Advanced Visualizations, Techniques, Tips, and Tricks
        1. Advanced visualizations
          1. Slope chart
          2. Lollipop chart
          3. Waterfall chart
          4. Sparklines
          5. Dumbbell chart
          6. Unit chart/symbol chart
          7. Marimekko chart
        2. Sheet swapping and dynamic dashboards
          1. Dynamically showing and hiding other controls
        3. Advanced mapping techniques
          1. Supplementing the standard in geographic data
          2. Manually assigning geographic locations
          3. Creating custom territories
            1. Ad hoc custom territories
            2. Field – defined custom territories
          4. Some final map tips
        4. Using background images
        5. Animation
        6. Summary
      17. 11. Sharing Your Data Story
        1. Presenting, printing, and exporting
          1. Presenting
          2. Printing
          3. Exporting
        2. Sharing with users of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Reader
          1. Sharing with Tableau Desktop users
          2. Sharing with Tableau Reader users
        3. Sharing with users of Tableau Server, Tableau Online, and Tableau Public
          1. Publishing to Tableau Public
          2. Publishing to Tableau Server and Tableau Online
          3. Interacting with Tableau Server
        4. Additional distribution options using Tableau Server
        5. Summary

    Product information

    • Title: Learning Tableau 10 - Second Edition
    • Author(s): Joshua N. Milligan
    • Release date: September 2016
    • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
    • ISBN: 9781786466358