Practical Tableau

Chapter 19. How to Make a Highlight Table

In Chapter 87, I demonstrate an exercise for “Smoothing the Excel Transition” by introducing the value of data visualization. In the example, we simply encode the values in a large text table of data by color—the higher the sales values, the darker the green. The result is called a highlight table.

Highlight tables are one of the simplest chart types to create, but are also among the most powerful. When compared to a crosstab (a.k.a. text table) view, this basic data visualization helps reduce the time to insight and improve the accuracy of insights. Highlight tables are definitely worth making a part of your chart type toolbelt, right alongside bar charts and line graphs. They are best used for:

• Quickly identifying highs and lows or other points of interest in your data

• As a means of enhancing a crosstab

• As a tactic for helping smooth the Excel transition

Highlight tables consist of one or more dimensions and exactly one measure (the color). Let’s take a look at how they’re made.

How to Make a Highlight Table in Tableau

Before we begin, let’s see how the final product will look:

You can create a highlight table with any combination of one or more dimensions and one measure. You can also create a highlight table using Show Me, but I prefer to learn by creating chart types manually so I understand how Tableau is generating the ...