A Brief Introduction to

Tableau Desktop
In This Chapter
▶▶Getting started with Tableau
▶▶Taking Tableau for a test drive
▶▶Understanding what you’re seeing

G
etting started with any new software product can be a real adventure.
Not only do you have new ways of doing things, but you also need
to deal with a completely new user experience — one that maybe displays
information
in ways that you’re not quite used to. This chapter helps introduce
you to Tableau and the exciting new opportunities it presents
you with for analyzing and visualizing your data.
Before you can begin using Tableau, you need to have it
installed on your computer. So, we begin this chapter
by showing you how to find and download a free
trial version. Additionally, in this chapter we show
you some of the things that you’ll learn to do in
Tableau. Sit back and relax. There’ll be plenty
of opportunities to try out the product in future
chapters

Starting with Tableau

If you’re like most people, you probably find it far more
fun and interesting to actually try something yourself instead
of simply reading about it. Fortunately, with Tableau, it’s both
quick and easy to download and install a trial copy of the latest full version
of the software.

1
8 Part I: Getting Started with Tableau Desktop
Downloading the Tableau trial
Before you can begin using Tableau, you’ll have to pay a visit to the Tableau
Software website and download the current version of the software. You’ll
need to register first, but you don’t need to supply a credit card number, so
don’t worry about getting billed.
The trial version of Tableau that you download will work for 14 days, so
you’ll want to make sure that you have some free time in your schedule to try
out the application during that trial period. You probably don’t want to begin
your trial just before you leave for a relaxing vacation.
To download your free Tableau trial, follow these steps:
1. Open your web browser and visit www.tableau.com/products/
desktop and click on “Try it Free.”
The default version of Tableau Desktop starts to download automatically.
This will be either the 64-bit Windows version or the Mac version,
depending on your computer.
If you need a different version, cancel the download and click the 32-bit
Windows link or the Mac link to download one of those versions. (See
Figure 1-1.)
2. Wait for your download to complete.
That’s pretty much it. The next section walks you through how to install
your downloaded software.
Installing the trial software
After the download has completed, you can install the trial immediately or
wait until later. If you don’t want to install the software right now, be sure to
remember where you saved the file. If you do want to install the trial now,
follow these steps:
1. Click the Run button in the dialog box that appears in order to begin
the installation process.
If you don’t install the trial immediately, locate the saved file later and
run it to begin the installation.
2. Read the license agreement and then select the check box to indicate
that you’ve read and agree with the terms.
You won’t be able to install the software unless you select this
check box.

Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to Tableau Desktop 9

3. Click the Install button to continue.
4. After the installation completes, click the Start Trial Now link if you’d
like to begin using the software.
You can also click the Start Trial Later link if you’re not ready quite yet,
or the Register Tableau link if you want to convert your copy from a trial
to the fully registered version.
Depending on your computer’s operating system, you might see slightly
different prompts, but the general steps for downloading and installing the
Tableau trial should be quite similar. You also might check the Tech Specs
located on Tableau’s website at www.tableau.com/products/desktop.
Figure 1-1: Visit the Tableau website to get your free trial.

10 Part I: Getting Started with Tableau Desktop

Looking at the Tableau Workspace
Now that you’ve taken care of getting the trial version installed, it’s time to
take a look at Tableau itself.
Starting Tableau
To start Tableau, click the Tableau icon on your desktop. If you don’t find it,
you’ll need to search the list of apps until you find it.
After Tableau has started, you’ll see something similar to Figure 1-2.
As Figure 1-2 shows, the Tableau Start page is divided into three main
sections:
✓✓Connect: This section runs down the left side of the page and gives you
the option to connect to various data sources. These sources include
files that are arranged in a database format as well as various types of
database servers. See Chapter 4 for additional information on the types
of data that you can use with Tableau.
Figure 1-2: The Tableau Start page provides several options.

Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to Tableau Desktop 11

✓✓Open: This center section of the Start page enables you to open existing
Tableau workbooks. The top part of this section shows any workbooks
that you’ve recently opened, and the bottom part of the section provides
quick access to sample workbooks that you can use to practice
with Tableau.
✓✓Discover: The right section of the Start page provides access to various
Tableau training resources as well as to other interesting content such
as news, blogs, and forums.
Viewing a sample workbook or data source
The best way to see what Tableau can do is to take a look at a quick example.
We’re not going to try and show you something complex, but rather just a
simple example to whet your appetite.
You can open any of the sample workbooks by clicking one of the icons on
the Start page. Additionally, the Connect section on the left offers several
sample data sources you can try.
Figure 1-3 shows how Tableau might look after you’ve connected to a sample
data source. In this case, we chose to connect using Excel under the To a
File option and browsed to the location of the Sample – Superstore data set
provided by Tableau. This sample and others are stored in a directory called
“My Tableau Repository” that accompanies the Tableau Desktop download.
Although it’s an Excel file, Tableau will have much the same appearance
regardless of the type of data source you choose. The field names listed
under Dimensions and Measures in the Data pane on the left will vary according
to what’s actually in your data source.
The real magic happens after you drag items from the Data pane onto
the workspace. In Figure 1-4, the Sales measure is being dragged onto the
Rows field.
Figure 1-5 shows the result that appears after Sales is dropped. With just that
one step, Tableau displays a chart showing total sales.
While this bar chart is useful to get a quick glance at our sales overall, in order
to get more detailed information you’ll want to add more data to the view. In
Figure 1-6, the Ship Mode field was dragged to the Columns field and Tableau
immediately changed the chart to display the sales for each Ship Mode.
The bar chart shown in Figure 1-6 shows useful information, allowing us to
compare which Ship Mode is making the most profit. Tableau makes it easy
to gain this insight and then move to explore another question. For example,
in order to build the map as seen in Figure 1-7, we created a new worksheet
and simply double-clicked on the geographic State field, then added Sales to
Size on the Marks card.

12 Part I: Getting Started with Tableau Desktop

Figure 1-4: Dropping Sales onto Rows.
Figure 1-3: Tableau after connecting to a data source.

Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to Tableau Desktop 13

Figure 1-5: Tableau after Sales is added to Rows.
Figure 1-6: Tableau displays a much more useful chart when additional fields are added.

14 Part I: Getting Started with Tableau Desktop

Seeing what Tableau can really do
Tableau worksheets are powerful analytical tools, but the real utility of this
application is in being able to share the analysis with other people in your
organization. An executive overview such as the one shown in Figure 1-8 not
only breaks down sales by state, but it also enables the viewer to see how
different customer segments and product categories are performing. In addition,
the overview graphically displays profitability using different colors.
In Tableau terminology, this type of display that combines information from
more than one sheet is called a dashboard.
The Tableau dashboard shown in Figure 1-8 also includes a couple of controls
in the upper-right section so that the viewer can filter the information
that’s displayed. For example, an executive might want to focus on profitability
in a single region during the most recent year. These interactive controls
make it easy for the executive to apply the filters without having any Tableau
or data analysis expertise.
In Chapter 11, you’ll see that Tableau has another option called stories that
takes the dashboard concept one step further. By building a story, you can
take viewers step by step through your analysis to help them better understand
how you reached your conclusions.
Figure 1-7: Sales data is now displayed as symbols on a map.

Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to Tableau Desktop 15

Figure 1-8: A Tableau dashboard displays information from multiple sheets.