The Tableau Workshop

The Tableau Workshop

by Sumit Gupta, Sylvester Pinto, Shweta Sankhe-Savale, JC Gillet, Kenneth Michael Cherven
Released April 2022
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781800207653

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Book description

Learn how to bring your data to life with this hands-on guide to visual analytics with Tableau

Key Features

  • Master the fundamentals of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep
  • Learn how to explore, analyze, and present data to provide business insights
  • Build your experience and confidence with hands-on exercises and activities

Book Description

Learning Tableau has never been easier, thanks to this practical introduction to storytelling with data. The Tableau Workshop breaks down the analytical process into five steps: data preparation, data exploration, data analysis, interactivity, and distribution of dashboards. Each stage is addressed with a clear walkthrough of the key tools and techniques you'll need, as well as engaging real-world examples, meaningful data, and practical exercises to give you valuable hands-on experience.

As you work through the book, you'll learn Tableau step by step, studying how to clean, shape, and combine data, as well as how to choose the most suitable charts for any given scenario. You'll load data from various sources and formats, perform data engineering to create new data that delivers deeper insights, and create interactive dashboards that engage end-users.

All concepts are introduced with clear, simple explanations and demonstrated through realistic example scenarios. You'll simulate real-world data science projects with use cases such as traffic violations, urban populations, coffee store sales, and air travel delays.

By the end of this Tableau book, you'll have the skills and knowledge to confidently present analytical results and make data-driven decisions.

What you will learn

  • Become an effective user of Tableau Prep and Tableau Desktop
  • Load, combine, and process data for analysis and visualization
  • Understand different types of charts and when to use them
  • Perform calculations to engineer new data and unlock hidden insights
  • Add interactivity to your visualizations to make them more engaging
  • Create holistic dashboards that are detailed and user-friendly

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone who wants to get started on visual analytics with Tableau. If you're new to Tableau, this Workshop will get you up and running. If you already have some experience in Tableau, this book will help fill in any gaps, consolidate your understanding, and give you extra practice of key tools.

Table of contents

  1. The Tableau Workshop
  2. Preface
    1. About the Book
      1. About the Authors
      2. Who This Book Is For
      3. About the Chapters
      4. Conventions
      5. Minimum Hardware Requirements
      6. Minimum Software Requirements
      7. Downloading the Book/Data Sources Bundle
      8. Setting Up Your Environment
        1. Installing Tableau on Your System
      9. Get in Touch
      10. Please Leave a Review
  3. 1. Introduction: Visual Analytics with Tableau
    1. Introduction
    2. The Importance of Visual Analytics
    3. The Tableau Product Suite
    4. Introduction to Tableau Desktop
      1. Exercise 1.01: Connecting to a Data Source
      2. Exercise 1.02: Creating a Comparison Chart Using Manual Drag and Drop
      3. Exercise 1.03: Creating a Comparison Chart Using the Automated Show Me Button Method
    5. Data Visualization Using Tableau Desktop
    6. Saving and Sharing Your Work
      1. Exercise 1.04: Saving Your Work as a Static Snapshot-PowerPoint Export
      2. Exercise 1.05: Saving Your Work as a Tableau Interactive File–Tableau Packaged Workbook
      3. Activity 1.01: Identifying and Creating the Appropriate Chart to Find Outliers in Your Data
    7. Summary
  4. 2. Data Preparation: Using Tableau Desktop
    1. Introduction
    2. Connecting to a Data Source
      1. Exercise 2.01: Connecting to an Excel File
      2. Connecting to a Server Data Source
    3. Various Joins in Tableau
      1. Different Types of Joins
      2. Exercise 2.02: Creating an Inner Join Dataset
      3. Exercise 2.03: Creating a Left Join Dataset
      4. Exercise 2.04: Creating a Right Join Dataset
      5. Exercise 2.05: Creating a Combined Dataset Using Union
    4. Data Transformation in the Data Pane
      1. Data Interpreter
      2. Renaming the Data Source
      3. Live and Extract Connections
      4. Exercise 2.06: Creating an Extract for Data
      5. Extract Properties
        1. The Data Storage field
        2. The Filters field
        3. The Aggregation Field
        4. The Number of Rows Field
        5. Which Connection Is Better – Live or Extract?
      6. Filters
      7. Exercise 2.07: Adding a Region Filter on the Orders Table
      8. Data Grid Options
      9. Custom SQL
    5. Data Blending
      1. Exercise 2.08: Creating a Data Blend Using the Orders and People Tables
      2. Exercise 2.09: Visualizing Data Created from a Data Blend
      3. Limitations of Data Blending
      4. Activity 2.01: Identifying the Returned Orders
      5. Activity 2.02: Preparing Data for Visualization
    6. Summary
  5. 3. Data Preparation: Using Tableau Prep
    1. Introduction
    2. Prep Interface
    3. Adding Data in the Flow
      1. Exercise 3.01: Connecting to an Excel File
      2. Exercise 3.02: Connecting with Multiple Data Sources
    4. Data Source Profile
      1. Exercise 3.03: Data Profile for the Orders_South Dataset
    5. Data Preparation Using Clean, Groups, and Split
      1. Additional Clean Steps
      2. Cleaning Steps at the Column Level
      3. Exercise 3.04: Applying a Filter in a Clean Step
      4. Exercise 3.05: Cleaning a Column in the Workflow
      5. Grouping Values
      6. Exercise 3.06: Grouping Values into a Group
      7. Splitting Values
      8. Exercise 3.07: Splitting Columns
    6. Aggregation, Pivot, Join, and Union
      1. Aggregations
      2. Exercise 3.08: Identifying High-Value Customers Based on Purchases
      3. Pivoting Data
      4. Exercise 3.09: Using a Pivot for Data
        1. Joining and Union of Data
      5. Exercise 3.10: Joining Two Data Sources
      6. Union
      7. Exercise 3.11: Union of Tables
      8. Script Step
    7. Flow and Data Exports
      1. Exercise 3.12: Exporting Data
      2. Activity 3.01: Finding the Month with the Highest Orders
      3. Activity 3.02: Data Transformation
    8. Summary
  6. 4. Data Exploration: Comparison and Composition
    1. Introduction
    2. Exploring Comparisons across Dimensional Items
      1. Bar Chart
      2. Exercise 4.01: Creating Bar Charts
    3. Exploring Comparisons over Time
      1. Exercise 4.02: Creating Bar Charts for Data over Time
      2. Line Charts
      3. Difference between Discrete Dates and Continuous Dates
      4. Exercise 4.03: Creating Line Charts over Time
    4. Exploring Comparison across Measures
      1. Exercise 4.04: Creating a Bullet Chart
      2. Bar-in-Bar Charts
      3. Exercise 4.05: Creating a Bar-in-Bar Chart
    5. Exploring Composition Snapshots – Stacked Bar Charts
      1. Exercise 4.06: Creating a Stacked Bar Chart
    6. Exploring Composition Snapshots – Pie Charts
      1. Exercise 4.07: Creating a Pie Chart
      2. Treemaps
      3. Exercise 4.08: Creating Treemaps
    7. Exploring Compositions for Trended Data
      1. Area Charts
      2. Exercise 4.09: Creating an Area Chart
      3. Activity 4.01: Visualizing the Growth of Passenger Cars in Singapore
    8. Summary
  7. 5. Data Exploration: Distributions and Relationships
    1. Introduction
    2. Exploring Distribution for a Single Measure
      1. Creating a Histogram
      2. Exercise 5.01: Creating a Histogram
      3. Box and Whisker Plots
      4. Exercise 5.02: Creating a Box and Whisker Plot without the Show Me Panel
      5. Exercise 5.03: Box Plot Using the Show Me Panel
    3. Relationship and Distribution with Multiple Measures
      1. Distribution with Two Measures
      2. Creating a Scatter Plot
      3. Exercise 5.04: Creating a Scatter Plot
    4. Scatter Plots with Trend Lines
      1. Exercise 5.05: Trend Lines with Scatter Plots
      2. Trend Lines and Types
        1. Linear Trend Lines
        2. Polynomial Trend Lines
        3. Polynomial Degree of Freedom
        4. Logarithmic Trend Lines
        5. Exponential Trend Lines
        6. Power Trend Lines
      3. The Reliability of Trend Lines
        1. R-Squared
        2. P-value
    5. Advanced Charts
      1. Quadrant Charts
      2. Reference Lines
        1. Understanding Reference Lines
      3. Exercise 5.06: Creating Quadrant Charts
      4. Combination Charts – Dual axis Charts
      5. Exercise 5.07: Creating Dual axis Charts
      6. Activity 5.01: Creating Scatter Plots
      7. Activity 5.02: Dual axis Chart with Asynchronous Axes
    6. Summary
  8. 6. Data Exploration: Exploring Geographical Data
    1. Introduction
    2. Importing Spatial Data
      1. Data File Types
        1. ESRI Shapefiles
        2. GeoJSON Files
        3. KML Files
        4. MapInfo Interchange Format
        5. MapInfo Tables
        6. TopoJSON Files
      2. Downloading the Data Source from GitHub
      3. Exercise 6.01: Downloading the Source Data
    3. Importing Non-Spatial Geographic Data Sources
      1. Exercise 6.02: Importing a Non-Spatial Data Source
      2. Data Relationships
      3. Exercise 6.03: Joining Two Data Sources
    4. Managing Location Data
      1. Assigning Geographic Roles
      2. Editing Locations
      3. Building Custom Geographies
        1. Creating a New Geography Using an Existing Role
        2. Creating a New Geography Using Groups
      4. Exercise 6.04: Building Custom Geographies
    5. Creating Maps in Tableau
      1. Geocoding
      2. Symbol Maps
        1. Adding Data to Symbol Maps
        2. Coloring a Symbol Map
        3. Sizing a Symbol Map
        4. Using Shapes in a Symbol Map
        5. Adding Map Tooltips
        6. Navigating Symbol Maps
        7. Filtering Symbol Maps
        8. Creating Groups and Sets from Symbol Map Data
      3. Exercise 6.05: Building a Symbol Map
      4. Choropleth (Filled) Maps
        1. Coloring a Choropleth Map
        2. Navigating a Choropleth Map
        3. Filtering a Choropleth Map
      5. Exercise 6.06: Building a Choropleth Map
      6. Dual-Axis Maps
      7. Exercise 6.07: Creating a Dual-Axis Map
      8. Map Enhancements
        1. Setting Map Options
        2. Using Existing Layers
        3. Adding Mapbox Background Maps
      9. Exercise 6.08: Adding Mapbox Background Maps
      10. Activity 6.01: Creating a Location Analysis Using Dual Axis and Background Maps
    6. Summary
  9. 7. Data Analysis: Creating and Using Calculations
    1. Introduction
    2. Creating and Using Ad hoc / Edit in Shelf Calculations
      1. Exercise 7.01: Creating an Ad Hoc Calculation to Highlight Loss-Making Sub-Categories
    3. Creating and Using Different Types of Calculations
      1. Creating and Using Different Types of Calculations: Numeric Calculations
      2. Exercise 7.02: Creating a Numeric Calculation
      3. Creating and Using Different Types of Calculations: Logic Statements
      4. Exercise 7.03: Creating a Logic Calculation
      5. Creating and Using Different Types of Calculations: String Calculations
      6. Exercise 7.04: Creating a String Calculation
      7. Creating and Using Different Types of Calculations: Date Calculations
      8. Exercise 7.05: Creating a Date Calculation
    4. Handling Null Values while Creating and Using Calculations
    5. Creating Calculations across Data Sources
      1. Activity 7.01: Calculating the Profit Margin
      2. Activity 7.02: Calculating the Percentage Achievement with Respect to Budget Sales
    6. Summary
  10. 8. Data Analysis: Creating and Using Table Calculations
    1. Introduction
    2. Quick Table Calculations
      1. Running Total
      2. Exercise 8.01: Creating a Running Total Calculation
      3. Difference
      4. Exercise 8.02: Creating a Difference Calculation
      5. Percent of Total
      6. Exercise 8.03: Creating a Percent of Total Calculation
      7. Percent Difference
      8. Exercise 8.04: Creating a Percent Difference Calculation
      9. Percentile and Rank
      10. Exercise 8.05: Creating Percentile and Rank Calculations
      11. Moving Average
      12. Exercise 8.06: Creating a Moving Average Calculation
    3. Table Calculation Application: Addressing and Partitioning
      1. Table (across)
      2. Exercise 8.07: Creating a Table (across) Calculation
      3. Table (down)
      4. Exercise 8.08: Creating a Table (down) Calculation
      5. Exercise 8.09: Creating Table (across then down) and Table (down then across) Calculations
      6. Exercise 8.10: Creating a Pane (across) Calculation
      7. Exercise 8.11: Pane (down) Calculation
      8. Exercise 8.12: Creating a Pane-Level Calculation
      9. Cell
    4. Creating, Editing, and Removing Table Calculations
      1. Creating a New Table Calculation
      2. Exercise 8.13: Creating a Table Calculation Using the Calculation Editor
      3. Removing a Table Calculation
      4. Activity 8.01: Managing Hospital Bed Allocations
      5. Activity 8.02: Planning for a Healthy Population
    5. Summary
  11. 9. Data Analysis: Creating and Using Level of Details (LOD) Calculations
    1. Introduction
      1. Exercise 9.01: Creating a LOD Calculation
    2. Types of LOD Calculations
      1. FIXED
      2. Exercise 9.02: Creating a FIXED LOD Calculation
      3. INCLUDE
      4. Exercise 9.03: Creating an INCLUDE LOD Calculation
      5. EXCLUDE
      6. Exercise 9.04: Creating an EXCLUDE LOD Calculation
      7. Table-Scoped
    3. LOD Calculations: Dimensions or Measures?
      1. Aggregation and LOD Calculations
        1. LOD Calculation Is Higher than the View LOD
        2. LOD Calculation Is Finer than the View LOD
        3. Nested LOD Calculations
    4. Effects of Filters on LOD Calculations
      1. Activity 9.01: Identifying the Top-Performing Sales Executives
      2. Activity 9.02: Performing a Comparative Analysis
    5. Summary
  12. 10. Dashboards and Storyboards
    1. Introduction
    2. The Who, What, and Why of the Dashboard
      1. The Who: Audience
      2. The What: Begin with the End in Mind
      3. The Why: The Need for a Dashboard
    3. Designing a Dashboard
      1. The Basic Layout
        1. Display Size
        2. Positioning
        3. Spacing
        4. Colors
        5. Size
        6. Text
      2. Exercise 10.01: Text Formatting – Workbook versus Worksheet
      3. Dashboard Objects
        1. Vertical Objects
        2. Horizontal Objects
        3. Text Objects
        4. Image Objects
        5. Web Page Objects
        6. Blank Objects
        7. Navigation Objects
        8. Extension Object
        9. Using Floating Objects
      4. Exercise 10.02: KPIs and Metrics View
      5. Exercise 10.03: Map and Parameter Worksheet Views
      6. Exercise 10.04: Putting It All Together: Dashboarding
    4. Creating Storyboards
      1. Exercise 10.05: Creating a Simple Storyboard
      2. Activity 10.01: Building a Complete Dashboard
    5. Summary
  13. 11. Tableau Interactivity: Part 1
    1. Introduction
    2. Grouping Data
      1. Exercise 11.01: Creating Groups
    3. Hierarchies
      1. Exercise 11.02: Creating Hierarchies
    4. Filters: The Heart and Soul of Tableau
      1. Data Source and Extract Filters
      2. Exercise 11.03: Filtering Data Using Extract/Data Source Filters
      3. Filters Using Views
      4. Exercise 11.04: Creating Filters from the View
      5. Creating Filters Using the Filters Shelf
        1. Dimension Filters Using the Filters Shelf
      6. Exercise 11.05: Dimension Filters Using the Filters Shelf
        1. Measure Filters Using the Filters Shelf
      7. Exercise 11.06: Measuring Filters Using the Filters Shelf
        1. Date Filters Using the Filters Shelf
      8. Exercise 11.07: Creating Date Filters Using the Filters Shelf
      9. Quick Filters
      10. Exercise 11.8: Creating Quick Filters
      11. Applying Filters across Multiple Sheets/Multiple Data Sources or an Entire Data Source
      12. Context Filters
      13. Exercise 11.09: Creating and Using Context Filters
    5. Sets
      1. Static Sets
      2. Exercise 11.10: Creating Static Sets
      3. Dynamic Sets
      4. Exercise 11.11: Creating Dynamic Sets
      5. Adding Members to the Set
      6. Exercise 11.12: Adding Members to the Set
      7. Combined Sets
      8. Exercise 11.13: How to Create Combined Sets
    6. Parameters
      1. Exercise 11.14: Standard Parameters
      2. Dynamic Parameters
      3. Exercise 11.15: Dynamic Parameters
      4. Activity 11.01: Top N Countries Using Parameters, Sets, and Filters
    7. Summary

Product information

  • Title: The Tableau Workshop
  • Author(s): Sumit Gupta, Sylvester Pinto, Shweta Sankhe-Savale, JC Gillet, Kenneth Michael Cherven
  • Release date: April 2022
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781800207653