Tableau Strategies: Solving Real, Practical Problems with Data Analytics

578 Pages·2021·67.902 MB·English

by  Ann Jackson, Luke Stanke

Tableau
Strategies
Solving Real, Practical Problems
with Data Analytics
Ann Jackson
& Luke Stanke

Tableau Strategies
Solving Real, Practical Problems
with Data Analytics
Ann Jackson and Luke Stanke
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Tableau Strategies
by Ann Jackson and Luke Stanke
Copyright © 2021 Jackson Two, LLC and Tessellation LLC. All rights reserved.
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978-1-492-08008-4
[MBP]
Table of Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1. Categorical Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Bar Charts: Banco de Tableau Case Study 3
Strategy: Build a Bar Chart in Tableau 4
Strategy: Create a Top N Bar Chart 5
Strategy: Dynamically Group Other Dimensions 7
Strategy: Enhance Your Bar Chart with Color 8
Strategy: Left-align Text 9
Strategy: Create Bars with Labels on Top 10
Strategy: Create a Percent-of-Maximum Bar Chart 12
Bar-on-Bar Charts: Amplify Performance Case Study 13
Strategy: Create a Bar-on-Bar Chart 15
Treemaps: Amplify Performance Case Study 20
Strategy: Create a Basic Treemap 21
Strategy: Create Drillable Treemaps 22
Strategy: Encode a Continuous Measure with Color 23
Pie and Donut Charts: IT Employee Wellness Project Case Study 25
Strategy: Build a Basic Pie Chart 25
Strategy: Build a Donut Chart 26
Strategy: Create Small Multiples 28
Conclusion 28
2. Quantitative Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Histograms: Office Essentials Case Study 32
Strategy: Make a Simple Histogram of Purchasing Behavior 33
Strategy: Create a Histogram with a Continuous Bin 37
Strategy: Use LOD Expressions in Histograms 38
iii
Dot Plots and Jitterplots: Office Essentials Case Study 41
Strategy: Create a Basic Dot Plot 41
Strategy: Create a Jitterplot 42
Ranged Dot Plots: Office Essentials Case Study 44
Strategy: Create a Ranged Dot Plot 45
Strategy: Use Median and Leveraged Percentiles 47
Box Plots: Spear-Tukey Shipping Case Study 48
Strategy: Create a Basic Box Plot 50
Strategy: Combine a Box Plot and Histogram 54
Line Charts: Office Essentials Case Study 55
Strategy: Build a Line Chart 56
Strategy: Add Reference Distributions to a Line Chart 57
Strategy: Add a Standard Deviation to a Line Chart 59
Strategy: Use Reference Distributions as an Alerting Tactic 61
Calculated Dimensions Based on Statistics: Banco de Tableau Case Study 62
Strategy: Assign a Summary Statistical Value to Data Points 63
Pareto Charts: Amplify Performance (AP) Case Study 64
Strategy: Use Pareto Charts to Show Categorical Data 65
Conclusion 68
3. Making Comparisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Bar Charts and Alternatives: Amplify Performance Case Study 72
Strategy: Compare with a Basic Bar Chart 73
Strategy: Convert a Vertical Bar Chart to Horizontal 74
Strategy: Create a Lollipop Chart 76
Strategy: Create a Basic Cleveland Dot Plot 81
Bar Charts for Rank Changes: AP Case Study 86
Strategy: Show Rank and Change of Rank on a Bar Chart 86
Bump Charts for Rank Changes over Multiple Periods: AP Case Study 96
Strategy: Make a Bump Chart 98
Barbell Plots for Hierarchical Data: Office Essentials Case Study 105
Strategy: Build a Barbell Plot 109
Trellis Charts/Small Multiples: Office Essentials Case Study 113
Strategy: Create a Trellis Chart for a Single Dimension 116
Parallel Coordinates Plots for Multiple Measures: OE Case Study 126
Strategy: Build a Parallel Coordinates Chart 128
Conclusion 137
4. Working with Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Understanding Dates and Time 141
Date Parts and Date Values 142
Date Calculations 142
iv | Table of Contents
Date Hierarchies and Custom Dates 143
Discrete Versus Continuous Dates 144
Call Frequency: Chips and Bolts Call Center Case Study 146
Strategy: Determine Total Call Time by Hour 147
Strategy: Create a Plot to Measure Total Call Time by Minute 148
Strategy: Create a Continuous Datetime Axis by the Second 150
Strategy: Create a Continuous Datetime Axis for 15-Second Intervals 151
Strategy: Create a Continuous Datetime Axis for 15-Minute Intervals 152
Heatmaps (Highlight Tables) 154
Strategy: Build an Essential Heatmap 154
Strategy: Create a More Detailed Heatmap 155
Comparing Values Year-to-Date: CaB Call Center Case Study 157
Strategy: Show Progress to the Total by Using Two Bar Charts 159
Strategy: Compare Similar Periods on a Line Chart 161
Automated Reports 163
Automating Reports for Month-over-Month and Year-over-Year Change: CaB
Call Center Case Study 163
Strategy: Automated Rolling Table 164
Nonstandard Calendars 167
Strategy: Build a Monthly Bar Chart with a June 1 Fiscal Year Start 169
Visualizing the 4-5-4 Calendar: Office Essentials Case Study 170
Strategy: Build a Bar Chart Using the 4-5-4 Retail Calendar 171
Conclusion 175
5. Key Performance Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Displaying KPIs 179
Displaying KPIs: Office Essentials Case Study 180
Strategy: Designing Clear KPIs 181
Strategy: Create Single-Sheet KPIs 183
Strategy: Automate Your KPIs 184
Strategy: Create Year-over-Year Calculations 187
Sparklines 190
Sparklines: Office Essentials Case Study 190
Strategy: Create Sparklines 190
Strategy: Create Year-to-Date Sparklines 193
Strategy: Create Rolling 24-Month Sparklines 194
Strategy: Build Delta Spark Bars 195
Strategy: Progress to Target 196
Multiple KPIs as a Scorecard 199
KPI Scorecard: Office Essentials Case Study 199
Strategy: Create Aggregate KPIs 201
Tracking Daily Changes: Office Essentials Case Study 203
Table of Contents | v
Strategy: Create Month-to-Date Sparklines 204
Strategy: Create Month-to-Date KPIs 209
Strategy: Combine KPI Visualizations in a Dashboard 211
Conclusion 212
6. Building Impactful Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Building Great Tables 216
Ensure a Clear Purpose for Your Table 218
Format Your Table to Maximize Readability 218
Using Color in Tables: Office Essentials Case Study 219
Strategy: Create a Table Using Limited Color 219
Strategy: Encode Color with Dots 226
Moving Beyond Measure Names and Values: Office Essentials Case Study 230
Strategy: Create a Table Body Without Measure Names or Measure Values 232
Strategy: Create Table Headers Without Measure Names or Measure Values 238
Strategy: Use Measures as Headers 240
Problem-Solving with Subsets and Hiding the Dreaded Abc: Office Essentials
Case Study 250
Strategy: Show the Top Products Within Sub-Categories 251
Strategy: Hide the Abc 257
Conclusion 258
7. Working with Geospatial Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Choropleth (Filled) Maps 262
Displaying Customer Penetration with Choropleth Maps: Office Essentials
Case Study 263
Strategy: Create a Simple Choropleth Map 263
Strategy: Normalize a Choropleth Map 264
Strategy: Add a Custom Color Palette 266
Strategy: Make a Decile Choropleth Map 268
Symbol Maps 270
Using Symbol Maps to Show Profitability and Channel Distribution: OE Case
Study 270
Strategy: Create a Symbol Map 271
Strategy: Create a Map with Donut Charts 273
Tile Maps (Cartograms) 274
Showing Education Level with a Tile Map:
Aloft Educational Services Case Study 274
Strategy: Build a Square Tile Map 275
Strategy: Compare Parts Against the Whole with a Tile Map 277
Built-in Features and Functions 279
vi | Table of Contents
Using Built-in Features and Functions with Marketing Data: SAGE Digital
Marketing Case Study 279
Strategy: Build Custom Polygons Using Groups 279
Strategy: Build Custom Polygons Using Underlying Geographic Data 283
Strategy: Use the Distance Function to Show Zip Codes’
Distance from a Central Location 284
Strategy: Use the Buffer Function to Map a Trade Area
Using Radial Distance 286
Strategy: Create Paths Between a Starting Point and Destinations with
MakePoint and MakeLine 288
Conclusion 289
8. Advanced Mathematical Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Forecasting 292
Using Forecasting to Predict Staffing Needs: CaB Call Center Case Study 293
Strategy: Create a Monthly Forecast 293
Relationships Between Two Numerical Values 297
Using Scatter Plots to See Relationships Between Spend and Conversions:
SAGE Digital Marketing Case Study 299
Strategy: Create a Scatter Plot 299
Strategy: Create a Quadrant Chart 300
Strategy: Add a Trend Line to a Scatter Plot 305
Cluster Analysis 308
Creating Segmentation Among Employees to Assess Differences in Attrition:
Banco de Tableau Case Study 309
Strategy: Add Cluster Analysis to a Scatter Plot and Use Analysis in
Another Chart 309
Alternative Axis and Many Multiples 313
Tracking Positive Cases of COVID-19 Globally: Logistics Case Study 314
Strategy: Use a Logarithmic Axis to Understand Rate of Change 314
Strategy: Normalize a Date Axis 316
Strategy: Create a Trellis Chart 318
Advanced Modeling Using Statistical Add-Ons 321
Using Python Analytics Extension for Web Page A/B Testing: Squeaks Pet
Supply Case Study 323
Sentiment Analysis on Customer Reviews: Amazing Products Case Study 327
Conclusion 329
9. Constructing Dynamic Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Parameters 332
Using Parameters to Change Measures and Dimensions: Office Essentials
Case Study 332
Table of Contents | vii
Strategy: Use a Parameter to Change a Measure in a Bar Chart 333
Strategy: Use Regex Functions to Dynamically Format a Parameterized
Metric 335
Strategy: Use a Parameter to Change the Dimension in a Bar Chart 336
Using Parameters to Set Time Periods and Date Aggregations in Line Charts:
Office Essentials Case Study 337
Strategy: Use a Parameter to Change the Date in a Line Chart 338
Strategy: Add Hidden Date Filters to Prevent Truncated Time Parts 339
Using Parameter Actions to Change Trended Metrics: SAGE Digital
Marketing Case Study 341
Strategy: Change a Metric Dynamically Using Parameter Actions and
Measure Names 341
Using Parameter Actions to View Daily and 7-Day Average Value: SAGE
Digital Marketing Case Study 344
Strategy: Compute a 7-Day Moving Average Reference Line That
Dynamically Changes with a Date Selection 345
Sets and Set Actions 346
Using Set Actions to Drill Down and Filter Data: Digital Marketing Case
Study 347
Strategy: Drill from Week to Date in a Line Chart 348
Strategy: Expand a Section of a Data Table 350
Animation 352
Competitor Analysis Study: Using Animations to Compare Ranking
Performance 352
Strategy: Build an Animated Bump Chart 353
Strategy: Create a Racing Bar Chart 355
Conclusion 357
10. Advanced Data Modeling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Data Modeling 360
Strategy: Create a Calendar with Data Densification 362
Strategy: Create Rounded Bar Charts 367
Strategy: Create an Accordion Table 375
Strategy: Create a Sales Funnel 382
Market Basket Analysis 391
Strategy: Basket Analysis 393
Strategy: Build a Multidimension Waterfall 401
Strategy: Layer Marks with Maps Without Making a Map 413
Conclusion 424
Further Reading 424
viii | Table of Contents