Communicating Data with Tableau: Designing, Developing, and Delivering Data Visualizations

✍ Scribed by Jones, Ben

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 334
• Edition: First edition
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Go beyond spreadsheets and tables and design a data presentation that really makes an impact. This practical guide shows you how to use Tableau Software to convert raw data into compelling data visualizations that provide insight or allow viewers to explore the data for themselves.

Ideal for analysts, engineers, marketers, journalists, and researchers, this book describes the principles of communicating data and takes you on an in-depth tour of common visualization methods. You'll learn how to craft articulate and creative data visualizations with Tableau Desktop 8.1 and Tableau Public 8.1.


Present comparisons of how much and how many
Use blended data sources to create ratios and rates
Create charts to depict proportions and percentages
Visualize measures of mean, median, and mode
Lean how to deal with variation and uncertainty
Communicate multiple quantities in the same view
Show how quantities and events change over time
Use maps to communicate positional data
Build dashboards to combine several visualizations

✦ Table of Contents

Copyright......Page 4
Table of Contents......Page 5
Preface......Page 11
Intended Audience......Page 12
Contents of This Book......Page 13
Using Code Examples......Page 15
How to Contact Us......Page 16
Acknowledgments......Page 17
Chapter 1. Communicating Data......Page 19
A Step in the Process......Page 20
A Model of Communication......Page 21
Three Types of Communication Problems......Page 22
Six Principles of Communicating Data......Page 23
Principle #1: Know Your Goal......Page 24
Principle #2: Use the Right Data......Page 25
Principle #3: Select Suitable Visualizations......Page 26
Principle #4: Design for Aesthetics......Page 27
Principle #5: Choose an Effective Medium and Channel......Page 29
Summary......Page 31
Using Tableau......Page 33
Tableau Products......Page 34
The Tableau User Interface......Page 36
Summary......Page 47
Chapter 3. How Much and How Many......Page 49
Communicating “How Much”......Page 50
An Example of How Much......Page 51
Comparing Comparisons......Page 53
Fine-Tuning the Default......Page 54
Sorting......Page 55
The Dot Chart......Page 57
Communicating “How Many”......Page 60
Counting Dimensions......Page 61
Histograms: How Many of How Much?......Page 64
Summary......Page 68
Chapter 4. Ratios and Rates......Page 69
Ratios......Page 70
Two Ways of Adding Rank......Page 78
Rates......Page 81
Blending Data Sources......Page 82
Visualizing Rates......Page 83
Summary......Page 85
Part-to-Whole......Page 87
Introducing Filters and Quick Filters......Page 89
Introducing Table Calculations......Page 92
Proportions as Waterfall Charts Using Gantt......Page 97
The Bullet Graph......Page 100
Reference Lines......Page 102
Actual-to-Target......Page 103
Summary......Page 104
Chapter 6. Mean and Median......Page 105
The Normal Distribution......Page 106
An Example of “Normal” Data......Page 107
Box Plots......Page 108
An Example of “Non-Normal” Data......Page 114
Sensitivity to Outliers......Page 115
Visualizing Typical Values of Non-Normal Distributions......Page 116
Summary......Page 117
Respecting Variation......Page 119
Visualizing Variation......Page 122
Variation Over Time: Control Charts......Page 124
How to Create a Control Chart in Tableau......Page 125
Understanding Uncertainty......Page 133
Summary......Page 141
Chapter 8. Multiple Quantities......Page 143
Scatterplots......Page 144
Who Is Who?......Page 148
Making it Exploratory......Page 152
Adding Background Images......Page 154
Stacked Bars......Page 155
Regression and Trend Lines......Page 159
The Quadrant Chart......Page 164
Summary......Page 166
Chapter 9. Changes Over Time......Page 167
The Origin of Time Charts......Page 168
The Line Chart......Page 169
The Dual-Axis Line Chart......Page 172
The Connected Scatterplot......Page 176
The Date Field Type and Seasonality......Page 180
The Timeline......Page 184
Step 1: Get the Data......Page 189
Step 3: Create a Parameter and Matching Calculated Field......Page 190
Step 4: Create the Basic Slopegraph......Page 192
Step 5: Add Line Coloring and Thickness......Page 193
Step 6: Design the Dashboard......Page 196
Summary......Page 197
Chapter 10. Maps and Location......Page 199
One Special Map......Page 200
Circle Maps......Page 201
Adding a Second Encoding......Page 203
When Marks Multiply......Page 204
Filled Maps......Page 208
Dual-Encoded Maps......Page 214
A Dual-Axis Map......Page 215
A Dual-Encoded Circle Map......Page 217
Summary......Page 219
Chapter 11. Advanced Maps......Page 221
Maps with Shapes......Page 222
Maps Showing Paths......Page 229
Plotting Map Shapes Using Axes......Page 234
Summary......Page 241
Chapter 12. The Joy of Dashboards......Page 243
Dashboards in Tableau......Page 244
A Word of Caution......Page 246
“Begin with the End in Mind”......Page 247
Types of Dashboards......Page 248
Context Is King......Page 253
Summary......Page 256
Chapter 13. Building Dashboards......Page 257
Step 2: Sheets......Page 261
Moving Things Around......Page 266
Step 3: Annotations......Page 268
Step 4: Objects......Page 271
Step 5: Actions......Page 276
Step 6: Formatting......Page 288
Steps 7 and 8: Delivery and Results......Page 289
A Key Point to Explain: Nordic Countries in the Lead......Page 290
Another Key Point to Explain: The Emergence of China......Page 292
Summary......Page 293
Chapter 14. Advanced Dashboard Features......Page 295
Animating Dashboards......Page 296
Showing Multiple Tabs......Page 300
Adding Navigation with Filters......Page 303
Adding Custom Header Images......Page 308
Adding Google Maps to Dashboards......Page 310
Create the URLs......Page 312
Adding Dynamic Google Maps Satellite Images to Our Dashboard......Page 313
Adding YouTube Videos to Dashboards......Page 315
Summary......Page 320
Examples......Page 321
Other Resources......Page 322
Index......Page 323
About the Author......Page 334

✦ Subjects

Business;Computer Science;Technical;Science;Technology