Learning Tableau 2020: Create effective data visualizations, build interactive visual analytics, and transform your organization, 4th Edition

Description

Gain a solid foundation to learn Tableau, and develop the skills and abilities required for an advanced mastery of the tool. Whether you're new to Tableau or have been using it years, you will benefit from this book. Key Features Explore the latest Tableau 2020 features and redefine business analytics for your firm Understand visualizing data and creating interactive dashboards to gain meaningful insights Learn implementing effective data storytelling to redefine how your business leverages data and makes decisionsBook Description Learning Tableau strengthens your command on Tableau fundamentals and builds on advanced topics. The book starts by taking you through foundational principles of Tableau. We then demonstrate various types of connections and how to work with metadata. We teach you to use a wide variety of visualizations to analyze and communicate the data, and introduce you to calculations and parameters. We then take an in-depth look at level of detail (LOD) expressions and use them to solve complex data challenges. Up next, we show table calculations, how to extend and alter default visualizations, build an interactive dashboard, and master the art of telling stories with data. This Tableau book will introduce you to visual statistical analytics capabilities, create different types of visualizations and dynamic dashboards for rich user experiences. We then move on to maps and geospatial visualization, and the new Data Model capabilities introduced in Tableau 2020.2. You will further use Tableau Prep's ability to clean and structure data and share the stories contained in your data. By the end of this book, you will be proficient in implementing the powerful features of Tableau 2020 for decision-making. What you will learn Develop stunning visualizations to explain complex data with clarity Explore exciting new Data Model capabilities Connect to various data sources to bring all your data together Leverage Tableau Prep Builder's amazing capabilities for data cleaning and structuring Create and use calculations to solve problems and enrich the analytics Master advanced topics such as sets, LOD calculations, and much more Enable smart decisions with data clustering, distribution, and forecasting Share your data stories to build a culture of trust and actionWho this book is for This Tableau book is for anyone who wants to understand data. If you're new to Tableau, don't worry. This book will simplify Tableau for beginners to build on the foundations to help you understand how Tableau really works and then builds on that knowledge with practical examples before moving on to advanced techniques. Having a bit of background with data will help, but you don't need to know scripting, SQL or database structures. Table of Contents Taking Off with Tableau Connecting to Data in Tableau Moving Beyond Basic Visualizations Starting an Adventure with Calculations and Parameters Leveraging Level of Detail Calculations Diving Deep with Table Calculations Making Visualizations That Look Great and Work Well Telling a Data Story with Dashboards Visual Analytics – Trends, Clustering, Distributions, and Forecasting Advanced Visualizations Dynamic Dashboards Exploring Mapping and Advanced Geospatial Features Understanding the Tableau Data Model, Joins, and Blends Structuring Messy Data to Work Well in Tableau Taming Data with Tableau Prep Sharing Your Data Story Preface Who this book is for What this book covers To get the most out of this book Download the example code files Download the color images Conventions used Get in touch Reviews Taking Off with Tableau Connecting to data Foundations for building visualizations Measures and dimensions Discrete and continuous fields Discrete fields Continuous fields Visualizing data Bar charts Iterations of bar charts for deeper analysis Line charts Iterations of line charts for deeper analysis Geographic visualizations Filled maps Symbol maps Density maps Using Show Me Putting everything together in a dashboard The dashboard interface Building your dashboard Summary Connecting to Data in Tableau The Tableau paradigm A simple example Connecting to data Connecting to data in a file Connecting to data on a server Using extracts Connecting to data in the cloud Shortcuts for connecting to data Managing data source metadata Working with extracts instead of live connections Creating extracts Performance Portability and security When to use an extract Filtering data Filtering discrete (blue) fields Filtering continuous (green) fields Filtering dates Other filtering options Summary Moving Beyond Basic Visualizations Comparing values Bar charts Bar chart variations Bullet chart Bar-in-bar chart Highlighting categories of interest Visualizing dates and times Date parts, date values, and exact dates Variations of date and time visualizations Gantt charts Relating parts of the data to the whole Stacked bars Treemaps Area charts Pie charts Visualizing distributions Circle charts Jittering Box and whisker plots Histograms Visualizing multiple axes to compare different measures Scatterplot Dual-axis and combination charts Summary Starting an Adventure with Calculations and Parameters Introduction to calculations The four main types of calculations Creating and editing calculations Data types Additional functions and operators Example data Row-level calculations Simple example More complex examples Extending the example Planning for data variations Aggregate calculations Why the row level versus aggregate difference matters Parameters Creating parameters Practical examples of calculations and parameters Fixing data issues Extending the data Enhancing user experience, analysis, and visualizations Meeting business requirements Ad hoc calculations Performance considerations Summary Leveraging Level of Detail Calculations Overview of level of detail Level of detail calculations Level of detail syntax Level of detail types FIXED INCLUDE EXCLUDE An illustration of the difference level of detail can make Examples of fixed level of detail calculations Was a member ever at risk? Latest balance for a member Example of include level of detail expressions Average loans per member Alternative approaches Example of exclude level of detail calculations Average credit score per loan type Summary Diving Deep with Table Calculations An overview of table calculations Creating and editing table calculations Quick table calculations Relative versus fixed Scope and direction Working with scope and direction Addressing and partitioning Working with addressing and partitioning Custom table calculations Meta table functions Lookup and previous value Running functions Window functions Rank functions Script functions The Total function Practical examples Year over year growth Dynamic titles with totals Table calculation filtering (late filtering) Summary Making Visualizations That Look Great and Work Well Visualization considerations Leveraging formatting in Tableau Workbook-level formatting Worksheet-level formatting Field-level formatting Custom number formatting Custom date formatting Null formatting Additional formatting options Adding value to visualizations Tooltips Viz in Tooltip Summary Telling a Data Story with Dashboards Introduction to dashboards Dashboard definition Dashboard objectives Dashboard approaches Designing dashboards in Tableau Objects Tiled versus floating Manipulating objects on the dashboard A dashboard to understand profitability Building the views Creating the dashboard framework Implementing actions to guide the story Context filtering Designing for different displays and devices Interactivity with actions Filter actions Highlight actions URL actions Go to Sheet actions Parameter actions Set actions Sets A set action example A regional scorecard dashboard Stories Summary Visual Analytics – Trends, Clustering, Distributions, and Forecasting Trends Customizing trend lines Trend models Linear Logarithmic Exponential Power Polynomial Analyzing trend models Exporting statistical model details Advanced statistics and more with R and Python Clustering Distributions Forecasting Summary Advanced Visualizations Advanced visualizations – when and why to use them Slope charts and bump charts Waterfall charts Step lines and jump lines Sparklines Dumbbell charts Unit/symbol charts Marimekko charts Animated visualizations Enhancing analysis with animation Enhancing data storytelling with animation Summary Dynamic Dashboards Show/Hide buttons Sheet swapping Basic principles of sheet swapping Using sheet swapping to change views on a dashboard Automatically showing and hiding other controls Summary Exploring Mapping and Advanced Geospatial Features Overview of Tableau maps Rendering maps with Tableau Customizing map layers Customizing map options Using geospatial data Including latitude and longitude in your data Importing definitions into Tableau's geographic database Leveraging spatial objects Leveraging spatial functions MAKELINE() and MAKEPOINT() DISTANCE() BUFFER() Creating custom territories Ad hoc custom territories Field-defined custom territories Tableau mapping – tips and tricks Plotting data on background images Summary Understanding the Tableau Data Model, Joins, and Blends Explanation of the sample data used in this chapter Exploring the Tableau data model Creating a data model Layers of the data model Using the data model The new data pane interface Data model behaviors Using joins Types of joins Joining tables Other join considerations Join calculations Cross-database joins The unintentional duplication of data Using blends A blending example When to use a data model, joins, or blends Summary Structuring Messy Data to Work Well in Tableau Structuring data for Tableau Well-structured data in Tableau Wide data Tall data Wide versus tall data in Tableau Star schemas (Data mart/Data warehouse) The four basic data transformations Overview of transformations Pivots (along with some simple data cleaning) Unions Joins Aggregation Overview of advanced fixes for data problems Summary Taming Data with Tableau Prep Getting ready to explore Tableau Prep Understanding the Tableau Prep Builder interface Flowing with the fundamental paradigm Connecting to data Cleaning the data Unioning, merging mismatched fields, and removing unnecessary fields Grouping and cleaning Calculations and aggregations in Tableau Prep Row-level calculations Level of detail calculations Aggregations Filtering data in Tableau Prep Transforming the data for analysis Options for automating flows Summary Sharing Your Data Story Presenting, printing, and exporting Presenting Printing Exporting Sharing with users of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Reader Sharing with Tableau Desktop users Sharing with Tableau Reader users Sharing with users of Tableau Server, Tableau Online, and Tableau Public Publishing to Tableau Public Publishing to Tableau Server and Tableau Online Interacting with Tableau Server Additional distribution options using Tableau Server or Tableau Online Summary Other Books You May Enjoy Index