Alteryx Designer: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 1. Introduction to Alteryx

I love Alteryx. If you had told me 12 years ago that I was going to become so interested in Alteryx that I’d write a book about it to get more people interested in it, I would have probably laughed at you or thought you were making it up.

I now spend hours, every day, building workflows, helping others build workflows, scaling workflows, and helping Alteryx users and leaders around the world to realize the value of Alteryx. I have yet to get tired of helping others get started using this platform. It’s so fun to see the look on people’s faces as they start to “get it” and understand why many others and I find Alteryx to be an invaluable product.

In this chapter, I am going to introduce you to Alteryx Designer and even briefly introduce you to the Alteryx Analytics Cloud Platform (AACP). You will download, install, and activate Alteryx Designer on your computer. Then, you’ll learn about the supportive Alteryx community, which will give you a solid foundation on which to understand the rest of the concepts we’ll cover in this book. I hope you’re getting excited. Alteryx is extremely fun, and working with it can not only take your career to the next level but can also change people’s lives by bringing automated solutions to common problems.

Introduction to Alteryx Designer and the Alteryx Analytics Cloud Platform

Alteryx Designer is a Windows software application that gives you an intuitive, fun, and easy-to-use drag-and-drop UI to create repeatable workflow processes for analyzing and blending data, and performing advanced analytics (such as predictive, spatial, and prescriptive). You can drag “tools” from a “tool palette” onto a “canvas,” and connect those tools in a process flow that produces one of three results: a workflow, an analytic app, or a macro. You can also use these processes to quickly and automatically produce results that can be easily shared with others.

Alteryx Designer is a powerful, scalable, and dynamic application that has been (and continues to be) in a state of growth, transition, and transformation as a standalone product. To classify Alteryx Designer as an exclusively standalone product, however, would not be correct. Alteryx Designer, as well as other products like Alteryx Server for on-premises and numerous analytics cloud applications, comprise the Alteryx Analytics Cloud Platform.

It’s relatively safe to say that anyone working with data in the past 10 years, and specifically in the analytics field, could see that their industry and the software products that they have been using exist in a poorly defined category. Are you a business intelligence developer or a reporting analyst? Are you an analytics professional or a data scientist? Are you an AI developer or a machine learning engineer? The list goes on. These areas of focus are fairly new, and many Alteryx users recognize they are standing in some areas simultaneously. They want to better understand what category they fall in, and so a platform that could simply satisfy all their needs was born.

Around 2022, Alteryx released its collection of new cloud software products—encompassing the latest vision of the AACP. AACP is the collection of cloud products that are paired with the on-premises products of Alteryx Designer and Alteryx Server (see Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1. The Alteryx Analytics Cloud Platform

Let’s now jump deeper into Alteryx Designer and what it has to offer as part of the AACP platform.

Figure 1-2 shows the drag-and-drop Alteryx Designer interface. Workflows are easy to build but can support highly complex and complicated processes as well.

Figure 1-2. Alteryx Designer interface

Key benefits of Alteryx Designer include:

Flexibility

An extensive library of interconnected tools enables flexibility, making once difficult tasks easier. There are a number of sources that can be connected and updated via your workflows. If you want to simply clean up some poorly formatted data, then you can easily do that. But if you want to connect to a website, download a table of data, and process it further, you can do that, too.

Breadth of solutions

Designer offers a variety of workflows that can be built in order to address a wide number of use cases. This tool enables you to handle problems in many different business areas and analytics disciplines, such as Customer Success, Human Resources, Finance, Operations, Sales and Support, Marketing, and IT.

Support network

Alteryx is known to have a somewhat cult-like following—and I include myself in that group. Many Alteryx users love supporting each other on “the community”, as we affectionately call it, and the Alteryx community now named Maveryx has won awards as well. On top of its inviting community, Alteryx as an organization has done an excellent job of providing resources and training material for its users to get started or to learn about a new category of tools and capabilities. You can quickly and easily get help from peers and expert users (or ACEs) any time, as well as read about the latest features of the recent releases.

It’s important to pay attention to the latest versions and upgrades to see which new features are available.

Versions and Upgrades

At the time of this writing, Alteryx Designer and the other Alteryx products release on a biannual basis, with smaller fix packs released about every six weeks. The first release is usually the “major” release and subsequent releases are marked as “minor” releases, with the first minor release also referred to as the “stable” release. With Alteryx Designer being such a large piece of software with many moving parts, many users simply can’t keep up with every release. It is not advisable to always be on the latest version unless you are specifically testing it. One rule many use is to try and stay “V-1” (v minus one), meaning one version behind the latest release. This allows any bugs or issues to be addressed by those testing. If you are interested in playing with the bleeding-edge updates for Alteryx Designer, I highly recommend you join the Alteryx Pilot Program. With each release, Alteryx will provide you with two main sets of information: release notes and help documentation.

Release notes provide key information about a release, including version numbers, release dates, release type, and end-of-support dates. They also go into detail about new features as well as fixed and known issues as of that release. It is important to pay attention to these release notes closely as you can learn a lot about what that version provides you—from a new feature that might make your development much easier or provide a capability you were looking for, to knowing if a bug you are experiencing is now fixed or marked as a known issue and hopefully resolved in a future release.

Because Alteryx provides the ID number and exact version for its fixed and known issues, I have often been able to talk with Alteryx support and get more detailed information on a specific issue.

Tip

I have seen many users go through the trouble of downloading and upgrading to the latest version of Alteryx Designer only to find out the issue they are experiencing is not fixed in that release. Reviewing the release notes can save you that headache.

As someone who likely spends more time than others reading the Alteryx help documentation, I can tell you that while it is very good, it’s not perfect. Help documentation can give you general guidelines, but it’s not going to cover everything in painstaking detail and with screenshots of every little step. I usually go to the help documentation to get a high-level understanding of a process, but if one step isn’t clear then I usually go to the community and ask for their help. Many people are willing to help and can provide that detail you need. Now, let’s get you started by downloading Alteryx Designer.

Download, Install, and Activate Alteryx Designer

Downloading and installing Alteryx Designer is a relatively simple process.

Downloading Alteryx Designer

If you have a license key available, then you can get started downloading Alteryx Designer by following the steps in this section. If you don’t yet have a full license and want to start a trial, then you will have that option once you have successfully installed the software. To download Alteryx Designer, take the following steps:

1. Make sure you have a computer with the minimum requirements. In particular, not having enough memory will provide a poor experience and cause you many headaches. To download Alteryx Designer, you will need to have an Alteryx account, which you can create by clicking “Register here” (see Figure 1-3).

   Warning

   It’s important to use the email address with which you have a license associated.

   

   Figure 1-3. Download Alteryx Designer

2. Log in and you will see a screen like the one shown in Figure 1-4.

   

   Figure 1-4. Alteryx Product Downloads screen

3. Click Download next to Alteryx Designer.

   Note

   If you or your organization don’t have licenses for the other Alteryx products, you won’t see them listed for download.

4. Select the version you want to download. The latest version will be at the top (see Figure 1-5).

   

   Figure 1-5. New or previous versions

5. Select the version you want to download and click Next. You will see a screen like the one shown in Figure 1-6 where you can download the product you need.

Alteryx provides two different installation options for Alteryx Designer: Admin version and Non-Admin version. There is no difference between the two versions when it comes to what is installed. The difference lies in where on your machine it gets installed. The Admin installation applies to all users on a machine and installs in the system Program Files directory at C:\Program Files\Alteryx. The Non-Admin installation applies only to the user who installed Alteryx and installs in the AppData folder at C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Alteryx. What this means is that you can actually install two different versions on any machine. However, it’s important to note that if you have one version installed, say for example the Admin version, and you try to install another Admin version, it will remove the previously installed Admin version. Same goes for the Non-Admin version if you try to install another version.

Figure 1-6. Downloads for Alteryx Designer

If you have admin access on your machine, or your organization deploys the software to your machine using the admin account, then you want to ensure you get the Admin version. However, if you want to use a different version or don’t have admin rights, you can use the Non-Admin version. The following steps will demonstrate how to download and install the Admin version.

Installing or Upgrading Alteryx Designer

Installing Alteryx Designer is actually quite easy, but for new users it can be a little unclear what you should be paying close attention to for each step. The process for a new installation versus upgrading to a newer version is exactly the same. The only difference is when you are upgrading to a new version, the installer will remove the previous version prior to installing. Let’s walk through the installation steps now:

1. Once you download the Admin Alteryx Designer executable file, go to the directory where they were downloaded to (this is usually the Downloads folder). From there, double-click the Admin Alteryx Designer .exe. The first screen you will see is shown in Figure 1-7.

   

   Figure 1-7. Installer screen

2. Click Next and you will see the License Terms (see Figure 1-8).

   

   Figure 1-8. License Terms

3. Click the checkbox next to “I accept the License Agreement” and click Next. You will then see the location where the software will be installed (see Figure 1-9). You could change this, but I recommend you don’t unless you have a specific reason to do so.

   

   Figure 1-9. Install location

4. Click Next, and on the next screen (see Figure 1-10) click Install.

   

   Figure 1-10. Install screen

5. Alteryx Designer will start installing. The installation process can take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes depending on the machine you’re using (see Figure 1-11).

   

   Figure 1-11. Installing Alteryx Designer

   Note

   The installation of Python dependencies can take upward of 15 minutes, so be patient.

   Once the installation completes, you will see a screen like the one shown in Figure 1-12.

   

   Figure 1-12. Run Alteryx Designer

6. With the box checked to Run Alteryx Now, click Finish and Alteryx Designer will open. Now it’s time to activate it!

Activating Alteryx Designer

Alteryx Designer provides you with three different activation options: standard, offline, and using a license server. Most users will use the standard activation process, but if you have a scenario where the machine you are using is not connected to the internet or has traffic blocked for security reasons then you have the option to activate using an offline license. On a new installation, when you open Alteryx Designer for the first time you will see a pop-up screen that looks like the one shown in Figure 1-13.

Figure 1-13. First-time installation

Follow these steps to activate Alteryx Designer:

1. If this is not a new installation and your machine has a license already installed, nothing will change. Your license will remain the same. If you need to add a license, you can access the license manager by going to Options and selecting Manage Licenses (see Figure 1-14).

   

   Figure 1-14. Manage Licenses in Options

2. From the Manage Licenses window, click Activate New License (see Figure 1-15).

   

   Figure 1-15. Activate New License

3. Paste in your license key(s) and click Activate (see Figure 1-16).

   

   Figure 1-16. Alteryx Designer Activation

4. If you do not have a license key to activate at this time, you can select Start Free Trial to enter a bit of information and activate a trial key.

Congratulations! You have downloaded, installed, and activated Alteryx Designer. You are now ready to begin by getting connected with the Alteryx community to find others like you.

The Alteryx Community

As I mentioned earlier in this chapter, one of the greatest resources you have available to you as you start your Alteryx Designer journey is the industry award-winning Alteryx community site. You will come to love and appreciate this special group of people and the extensive resources at your fingertips. I honestly had to think deeply about writing this book, since there is indeed so much amazing content and material for you through the community site. Ultimately, I wrote this book to support, extend, and improve the community to be even better than it is already.

In this section, I’ll share with you some of the most important areas of the Alteryx community. The community is a huge, almost intimidating place, but I assure you that once you reach out in the discussion boards or comment on a blog post, you will start to feel welcome right away. We are a close, tight-knit group of thousands of passionate Alteryx users, and nothing makes us happier than having more friends to talk Alteryx with. Let’s dive in!

Alteryx Academy

When you are first getting started with Alteryx Designer, the best resource (aside from this book) is Alteryx Academy. Alteryx Academy is a collection of resources that is meant to help you on your journey from Alteryx novice to working Alteryx professional. There are learning paths, interactive lessons, live training sessions, videos, certifications, and (my favorite) weekly challenges.

Certifications

Alteryx offers a handful of certifications for all Alteryx Designer users and a handful more reserved for Alteryx Partners, which include Solution Providers, OEMs, and Technology Alliance. The four main certifications are: core, advanced, expert, and the newest certification, predictive master. In Alteryx Academy, you can find certification guides for all four of them as well as Micro-credential exams, Designer cloud exams, and Alteryx Server exams.

Discussion Boards

The discussion boards on the Alteryx community site are one of the greatest places to not only ask questions and get help from other knowledgeable users but also find where someone may have already faced the same issue and had it resolved. Since the community has such a large user base, I would highly recommend you conduct a search of existing discussions before posting your question. It is very likely that your question has already been asked.

Knowledge

The Knowledge section on the Alteryx community site is another great resource for learning and getting a more in-depth view on a topic. Here, there are many articles and deep dives that you can search for by product.

Ideas

The Ideas section is where you can see and/or post any ideas that can improve the product. If you’re building a workflow and have an idea that Alteryx should implement into the product, you can write about it and have other Alteryx users vote it up. This is also a great place to see other ideas Alteryx has accepted and will be putting into a future release.

Blogs and Podcasts

The Blogs and Podcasts sections are another great place to learn about new topics and hear from others in the Alteryx community. There are also some really great deep dives into topics like predictive analytics and advanced areas of Alteryx. Podcasts are available from major podcast apps like Google and Spotify, so you can listen to them on your next road trip!

User Groups

The User Groups section is where you can sign up or even start a user group meetup in your area. There are more and more user groups being started every month, and it’s likely that if you are in a major US city, there is one already set up in your area or perhaps you could join a virtual user group. If that’s not the case, you can work with the User Groups team at Alteryx to get one set up. These groups are a great way to help other users learn more about Alteryx as well as find new friends who share similar interests.

Use Cases

The Use Cases section is where you can see the impact that Alteryx has had on organizations. You can get in-depth information on specific approaches that others have used to be successful—from automating PowerPoint presentations to saving a North American airline more than $1 million annually.

Alteryx Support

Alteryx provides user support for anything related to its products. While the help documentation is comprehensive, I highly recommend you also get familiar with the Support section of the community—it’s a great hub for any support you may need. If you are a customer, check out Mission Control, a one-stop-shop for support and getting started in Alteryx.

Alteryx does a reasonably good job of providing detailed information about every feature and function of Alteryx Designer. It’s important to look for a circle with a question mark in it—that will provide a direct link to help documentation for the specific area you are focused on. These icons will appear in a few different places, which we will cover later in this book (see Figure 1-17).

Figure 1-17. Help icon

The help icon is also available by right-clicking on a tool in the canvas (see Figure 1-18).

Figure 1-18. Right-click a tool in the canvas

Conclusion

In this chapter, we covered everything you need to get started with Alteryx Designer and begin to know your way around the Alteryx community. I introduced you to Alteryx Designer and the AACP platform. I talked about all the resources and help you have at your disposal. You went through a step-by-step guide to getting Alteryx downloaded, installed, and activated. Lastly, we covered the plethora of options available on the Alteryx community site for you to engage and start to learn from your peers. As with all software, there will be a lot of new things to learn and do, but remember that analytics can be very fun and exciting, and you’ve taken the first step toward getting there. Stick with me throughout the book and you will soon learn things that you never thought possible. In the next chapter, you will work on configuring Alteryx Designer and building the skills and knowledge you will need to create your first workflow. Let’s go!