Tableau is a catalyst to help employees and employers to have that insightful analysis. You may call it the ‘aha data moment.’ The sample charts here will guide those who are interested to learn Tableau B.I. tool and make him/her turn data into deeper understanding was what needed for success in a digital world.
The data used in this lecture be downloaded in my github: alcadelina/globalsuperstore: free data for Tableau user (github.com)
THE LINE
GRAPH
The Line
Graph is the standard way of showing trends over time. Line graphs are best
used in continuous data.
Step 1. Drag Sales to the Rows Shelf
Step 2. Right Click and drag Order Date to
the Columns Shelf.
Step 3. Select the Green, continuous month
(Order Date)
Step 4.
Click the Label Card and check Show Mark Labels.
Step 5. Under Marks to Label, select Line
Ends.
Step 6. Format the Marks as desired.
THE SLOPE
CHART
The Slope
Chart is best used to display relative change over two time periods and should
only be used if key pieces of the story are not left out.
Step 1. Drag Profit to the Rows Shelf.
Step 2. Right Click and drag Order Date to
the Columns Shelf.
Step 3. Select the Blue, Discrete Year
(Order Date)
Step 4. Drag Segment to the Color Card
Step 5. Click the Year (Order Date) Drop
Down and set the Filter to 2020 and 2021.
Step 6. Click the Label Card and Check Show
Mark Labels.
Step 7.
Under Marks to Label, select Line Ends.
Step 8. Format the Marks as desired.
THE SPARK
LINE
The Spark
Line can be a great way to show trends of multiple values.
Step 1. Drag Profit to the Rows Shelf.
Step 2. Drag Region to Rows Shelf and place
to the left of Sum (Profit).
Step 3. Drag Profit to the Row Shelf and
place to the right of Sum (Profit).
Step 4. Right Click and Drag Order Date to
Columns Shelf.
Step 5. Select the Green Continuous Month
(Order Date).
Step 6. Click the Profit Drop Down, create a
Dual Axis and Synchronize Axis.
Step 7.
Change the Profit Mark Type to Circle and Size, Color the Mark as
desired.
Step 8. Remove Gridlines, Axes and Headers.
THE SCATTER
PLOT
The Scatter
Plot is the standard way of showing the relationship between two continuous
variables each of which has its own axis.
Step 1. Drag Sales to Column Shelf.
Step 2. Drag Profit to Rows Shelf.
Step 3. Drag Sub-Category to the Detail Card.
Step 4. Change the Mark type to Circle.
Step 5. Drag Scatter color to the Color Card,
set to compute using Sub-Category.
Step 6. Set the Circle Colors as desired.
Step 7. Ctrl + Click and drag Sum (Profit)
to the right of itself.
Step 8. Create a dual Axis and Synchronize.
Step 9. Set the Opacity on the Sum (Profit)
Marks Card to 25%.
Step 10. Change the Sum (Profit) (2) card to
Shape, Unfilled Circle.
THE HEAT
MAP
The Heat Map
can be an effective way of showing the relationships between two variables, but
it does not show the precise differences in values.
Step 1. Drag State to the Rows Shelf.
Step 2. Drag Order Date (Months) to the
Columns Shelf.
Step 3. Drag Region to the Filters Shelf and
set the filter to Central.
Step 4. Drag Profit Ratio to the Color Card.
Step 5. Edit the colors appropriately.
The
Diverging Bar is a standard bar that can display both negative and positive
values.
Step 1. Drag Profit to the Columns Shelf.
Step 2. Drag Sub-Category to the Rows Shelf.
Step 3. Sort the Sub-Categories in
Descending Order.
Step 4. Drag Regions to the Filters shelf
and select the Southeast Asia.
Step 5. Drag Category to the Filters shelf
and select Office Supplies.
Step 6. Drag Profit Color to the Color
card.
Step 7. Set the Profit colors as desired.
Step 8. Set the x-axis to start at -8,500
and end at 8,500.
The
Histogram is the standard way of showing a statistical distribution.
Step 1. Drag Quantity to the Rows Shelf.
Step 2. From Show Me select Histogram.
Step 3. Drag Quantity (Bin) to the Columns
Shelf.
Step 4. Ensure the Mark type is a Bar.
Step 5. Click the Label card and select Show
Mark labels.
Step 6. Set Marks to Label to Min/Max.
Step 7. Change the font to Tableau Medium
9pt and select match mark color.
THE UNIT
HISTOGRAM
The Unit Histogram
display distributions of individual data points as opposed to the data points
being bucketed into bins like a traditional histogram.
Step 1. Drag Order ID to rows Shelf.
Step 2. Select CNTD (order ID).
Step 3. Drag Order date to the Columns
Shelf.
Step 4. Select the Green, Day (Order Date).
Step 5. Click the Day (Order Date) drop down
and select edit filter.
Step 6. Set a range Filter.
Step 7. Change the Mark Type to a Circle.
Step 8. Drag
Order ID to the Detail Card.
Step 9. From
Analysis, select Stack Marks , ON.
Step 10.
Drag Profit Ratio to color card and set the colors as desired.
The Dot Plot
is an effective way of showing the Range or change in Data across several
categories.
Step 1. Drag Profit to the Columns Shelf.
Step 2. Drag Region to the Rows Shelf.
Step 3. Change the Mark Type to Circle.
Step 4. Drag
Category to the Color card
Step 5. Set the Color as desired.
Step 6. Ctrl + Click and Drag a copy of the
Sum (Profit) pill to the right of itself on the columns shelf.
Step 7. Create a dual, synchronized axis.
Step 8. Change the Sum (Profit) (2) Mark
Type to line and change the category pill from color to
path.
Step 9. From the columns shelf, drag the
left Sum (Profit) pill to the right of the second Sum
(profit) pill.
THE JITTER
PLOT
The Jitter
Plot is a great alternative to the Dot Strip as it allows the Dots to be
separated as opposed to plotted on top of one another.
Step 1. Drag
sales to the Rows Shelf.
Step 2. Drag
Sub-Category to Columns.
Step 3. Drag
Category to the Filters Shelf and set the Filter to furniture.
Step 4.
Change the Mark Type to Circle.
Step 5. S
Drag Order ID to the Detail
Card.
Step 6.
Create Calculated filed name it as Jitter. Type RANDOM () – which you will see
pooping up on the bottom left. Drag Jitter to the Column Shelf, to the right of
sub-category. You can see it changes the whole view but you will need to make
sure that you change the new calc to a Dimension rather than a Measure by
clicking on the bullet and changing it
Step 7. Right
click the X-Axis and change the Range to Independent.
Step 8. As
an optional step, add AVG(Sales) reference line to the view via Analytics Pane.
THE WATER
FALL
The Water
Fall can be an effective way of showing how positive and negative values affect
an overall value.
Step 1. Drag
Profit to rows shelf and from the drop down, select quick table calculation,
running total.
Step 2. Drag
sub-category to columns.
Step 3. Change
the Mark Type to Gannt Bar.
Step 4. Drag
Profit to the size Card.
Step 5.
Double click in the Sum (Profit) pill on the Size card, change to - Sum
(Profit)
Step 6. Drag
Profit Color (Waterfall) to the Color Card and set the Colors
Step 7. Drag
Category to the Filters and set to Office Supplies
Step 8. Drag
region to Filters Shelf and set to East
Step 9. From
Analysis, select Totals, show Row Grand Totals, add a Label.
THE BAR CHART
The Bar
Chart is the most effective way to visualize categorical data.
Step 2. Drag
Region to Rows Shelf.
Step 3.
Ensure the Mark Type is set to Bar
Step 4.
Click the label card and check Show Mark labels
Step 5.
Change the font to Tableau Medium 9pt and select Match Mark Color
Step 6. Drag
Order date to Filter shelf
Step 7.
Select Years and select filter to the most recent year in your data set.
THE TREE
MAP
The Tree Map
is a hierarchical visualization that allows for comparison of dimensions across
one or two measures. Measures can be used to represent size and/or color.
Step 2. Drag
Sales to the Size card.
Step 3. Drag
Category to the detail card.
Step 4. Drag
sub-category to the label card.
Step 5. From
the Marks Card, drag Sub-category below Category
Step 6. Click
on the Color Card and set the Colors as follows:
-
Palette:
Custom Diverging
-
Stepped
Color: 4
-
End:
35,000
-
Center:
0
THE STACKED
BAR
The Stacked
bar can be a nice way of showing part-to-whole relationships, but can become
difficult to read when there are more than 3 dimensions.
Step 1. Drag Sales to the Columns Shelf
Step 2. Drag region to the Rows Shelf.
Step 3. Drag
Category to the Color Card
Step 4. From
the Sum(Sales) drop-down select Quick table Calculation, percent of total
Step 5.
Click the Sum(Sales) drop-down again and select compute using, Category
The Bump
Chart can be used to display change in ranking over time.
Step 2. Drag
Order Date to the Columns Shelf
Step 3. Drag
Region to the Detail Card
Step 4.
Click the Sum (Sales) pill drop down and select compute using, Region.
Step 5. Ctrl
+ Click and Drag a copy of the Sum (Sales) pill to the right of itself on the
Rows Shelf.
Step 6.
Create a Dual, Synchronized Axis and change the new mark type to a Line.
Step 7.
Reverse the Y-Axis
Step 8. On
the Circle Marks Card, select Show Mark Labels and Center in the Circles.
Step 9. On
the Circle Marks Card, move the Region Pill from Detail to Color.
THE LOLLIPOP
CHART
The Lollipop
Chart is an alternative to the traditional bar chart, is useful when wanting to
draw attention to the value.
Step 1. Drag Sales to the Column Shelf.
Step 2. Drag
Region to Rows Shelf.
Step 3. Set
the Mark Type to Bar.
Step 4. Ctrl
+ Click and drag a copy of the Sum (Sales) pill to the right of itself on the
Rows shelf.
Step 5.
Create a dual, synchronized axis and change the new mark type to circle.
Step 6. Size
the Bars and Circles Marks so the chart resembles a lollipop
Step 7. From
the Circle Marks Card, click Label and select Show Mark Labels.
Step 8. Format
the Labels to fit inside the Circles, Centered, formatted as follows $###K
The
Filled/Symbol Map are best used when precise location of data is important.
Symbol maps can be layered on top of filled maps to create another level of
detail.
Step 1. Double
click Longitude (Generated) and Latitude (Generated)
Step 2. Drag
State to the Detail Card.
Step 3. Drag
Region (Copy) to the Color Card and set the opacity to 25%
Step 4. From
the Map Menu, select Map Layers and select Dark and the washout to 55%
Step 5. Ctrl
+ Click and drag a copy of the Longitude (Generated)Pill to the right of itself
on the Columns Shelf.
Step 6. The
original Longitude (Generated)Pill change the Mark type into map. Change the
New Mark Type to Circle, set the opacity to 75%, remove Region (Copy) from
Color and replace state on detail with City.
Step 7. Drag
sales to the Size Card and size the Color as desired.
