Tableau Dashboard Cookbook

337 Pages·2014·14.625 MB·English

by  Jen Stirrup

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Tableau Dashboard
Cookbook
Over 40 recipes on designing professional dashboards
by implementing data visualization principles
Jen Stirrup
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
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Tableau Dashboard Cookbook
Copyright © 2014 Packt Publishing
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First published: May 2014
Production Reference: 1200514
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78217-790-6
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Cover Image by Aniket Sawant ([email protected])
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Credits
Author Copy Editors
Jen Stirrup Roshni Banerjee
Sarang Chari
Reviewers Gladson Monteiro
Nuno Faustino
Adithi Shetty
Mike Janecek
Nathan Krisanski
Project Coordinator
Patrick Spedding Venitha Cutinho
Commissioning Editor Proofreaders
Edward Gordon Simran Bhogal
Maria Gould
Acquisition Editor Paul Hindle
Rebecca Youé
Indexers
Content Development Editor Hemangini Bari
Arun Nadar
Tejal Soni
Technical Editors
Production Coordinator
Dennis John
Melwyn D'sa
Sebastian Michael Rodrigues
Pankaj Kadam
Cover Work
Melwyn D'sa
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About the Author
Jen Stirrup is an award-winning, internationally recognized business intelligence and data
visualization expert, author, data strategist, and technical community advocate. She has
been repeatedly honored, along with peer recognition, as one of the top 100 most globally
influential tweeters on Big Data topics. Jen has over 16 years of experience in delivering
Business Intelligence and data visualization projects for companies of various scales across
the world.
I want to thank the most important person in my life, my son Matthew. I love
him to the moon and back…a millionty times. I dedicate this book to him.
I have been inspired by the genius of other people. In the words of Sir
Isaac Newton, I stand on the shoulders of giants. My gratitude to Stephen
Few, Edward Tufte, Raj M. Ratwani, and Ben Schneiderman. The Tableau
community has boundless enthusiasm and a sense of fun, which has
helped me to keep going. A special shout out to Jacqui, Ian Taylor, Dan
Murray, and Tom Brown. I'd like to thank the great folks at Tableau,
especially, Andy Cotgreave and Pat Hanrahan.
I would also like to thank the following people for their support and love;
I appreciate it more than I can say. Toby, Gill, and Pippa Smith; Charlie and
Joe Withey; Allan, Lesley, and Ewan Mitchell; my parents; and my brother.
I'd also like to thank the "SQLFamily"—those in the global SQL Server and
Microsoft Data Platform community, and of course, the "softies" themselves.
They are just simply amazing, amazing people. They brighten my days and
nights more than they know. Thank you!
I would like to thank everyone at Packt Publishing for their patience and
hard work in helping to make this happen: Venitha, Rebecca, and Arun in
particular. I would also like to thank the reviewers for their diligence and
careful questions, and help in shaping this book.
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About the Reviewers
Nuno Faustino has worked in data visualization, harvesting data from all kinds of web
sources and databases since 2007. He specializes in QlikView and Tableau for dashboard
production, usually after performing statistical analysis/modeling with tools such as R
and SPSS.
He has mainly worked in the pharmaceutical industry for companies such as Cegedim and
Johnson & Johnson. His skills have also been tested in the banking and insurance market
during the challenge he took up to evaluate consumer intelligence in the UK.
At the academic level, Nuno published his thesis in 2009, in which he analyzed the efficiency
of Portuguese pharmacies using Data Envelopment Analysis.
Mike Janecek has an undergraduate degree in Economics and MBA and has been
providing analytical services for nearly 20 years in various institutes such as hospitals and
insurance and investment companies. He has been following the data visualization movement
since 2005 and using Tableau as his main tool of choice to generate visual analysis since
early 2007.
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Nathan Krisanski is a data analyst, consultant, and entrepreneur with over 10 years of
industry experience and five years of experience working with Tableau Desktop and Server
applications. He currently consults for several large-scale Australian companies, building
and maintaining Tableau visualizations and installations for these clients.
Nathan graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, majoring
in Software Development and Network Communications. He has worked in the health,
real-estate, and banking and finance sectors, among many others.
Nathan is a Tableau partner and organizer for the Brisbane Tableau User Group. He was
also a customer speaker at the 2012 European Tableau User Conference in Barcelona, Spain,
and discussed the topic of dashboard integration and automation and spacial techniques.
Thank you to my girls, Kendall and Isabella. You'll are always in my thoughts
and heart.
Patrick Spedding is a thought leader, evangelist, and strategic advisor in the area of
Business Intelligence and Analytics. Over the 22 years of his career with IBM – Cognos
Business Intelligence, SAS Institute, and See-Change Solutions, Patrick had the opportunity
to work in a number of roles, both functionally and geographically. These include the roles of
the Director of Product Management for Cognos Asia-Pacific, Director of Field Marketing for
Cognos West US, Area Technical Manager for Cognos West US, and SAS Solution Manager for
Business Intelligence and Strategy Management.
Patrick is the Founder of See-Change Solutions, a Business Intelligence strategic advisory
firm and a Tableau business partner. See-Change Solutions specializes in complex Business
Intelligence deployments, including SAS/Tableau and Cognos/Tableau integration.
Patrick's qualifications include an MBA degree in Marketing (AIU), diploma in Management
(University of Michigan), BSc (Hons) in Mathematics (Loughborough University), and
Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (AFAIM). He is also Pragmatic
Marketing Certified.
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Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: A Short Dash to Dashboarding! 5
Introduction 5
Preparing for your first dashboard 6
Showing the power of data visualization 12
Connecting to data sources 21
Introducing the Tableau interface 28
Interacting with your first data visualization 34
Sharing your visualization with the world 41
Chapter 2: Summarizing Your Data for Dashboards 49
Introduction 49
Arithmetic – the queen of mathematics! 50
Dashboards and dates 58
Grouping your data with calculations 64
Correlation with calculations 72
Using cross-tabs flexibly 79
Simplifying your business rules with customer calculations 83
Chapter 3: Interacting with Data for Dashboards 91
Introduction 91
Fun with filters – grouping your data with clarity 92
Hierarchies for revealing the dashboard message 109
Classifying your data for dashboards 114
Actions and interactions 120
Drilling into the details 124
Working with input controls 135
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