CONFIDENTIAL

Data Visualisation for Business

ANL 201

School of Business
 CONFIDENTIAL

Study Unit 2
Science and Art of Data Visualisation
Recap
Overview of Business Performance Measurements

• Business Performance Measurement - Definition, Performance Metrics, and

importance of metrics
• The Four Balanced Scorecard Perspectives
• Strategy Map
– Vision, Mission, Strategic Themes, Strategic Objectives, Measure, Target, Initiatives

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Data Visualisation
The Power of Excel and Power BI

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Data: https://www.coe-data.com/Data/SUSS/Superstore.xls
What is Data Visualisation?

• Data - facts and statistics used for reference or analysis

• Visualisation - the graphical representation of data

• Data visualisation” refers to transforming figures and raw data into visual objects: points,
bars,“ line plots, maps, etc. “Data visualization is the art of depicting data in a fun and
creative way, beyond the possibilities of Excel tables.
• Charles Miglietti, an expert in data visualization and co-founder of Toucan Toco

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

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Benefits of Data Visualisation

‣ Provides us the ability to comprehend huge amounts of data

‣ Allows the perception of emergent properties that are not anticipated

‣ Facilitates hypothesis formation

‣ Often enable problems with data to become immediately apparent

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Data Visualisation - Data visualisation in everyday life

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/great-data-visualization-examples 8
Data Visualisation - Data visualisation in everyday life

https://www.toucantoco.com/en/blog/7-examples-of-data-visualization 9
Data Visualisation - Data visualisation in everyday life

https://www.researchgate.net/topic/Data-Visualization 10
Perceptual Processing Model

Overview of a two-stage model of human visual information processing (Ware, 2013)

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Four Components of
Data Visualisation
Four Components of Data Visualisation
Coordinate Systems
Visual Cues
Visual Cues

Scales Context

These four components work together and each of them affects the other.13
Four Components of
Data Visualisation
Visual Cues - Types
1. Position (e.g., scatterplot)

Position defines the

position of a data point
in space as compared
to other data points in
the data

Helps you compare the

sales and cost

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Visual Cues - Types
2. Length (e.g., bar chart)

The longer the bar, the

greater is the absolute
value

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Visual Cues - Types
3. Angle (e.g., pie chart)

Angles are commonly

used to represent parts
of a whole

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Visual Cues - Types
4. Direction (e.g., line graph)

Line graphs help us see

increase, decrease and
fluctuations

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Visual Cues - Types
5. Shape (e.g., scatterplot)

Shape or symbol is
commonly used as a visual
cue to differentiate different
products/categories/objects
in data

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Visual Cues - Types
6. Area and Volume- Area charts

Bigger objects represent

greater values- larger area
means profit made by the
grocery chain in yellow is
higher than the one in grey
and the one colored in blue
makes the least profit

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Visual Cues - Types
7. Colour
SPOT THE BEAR!

Color as a visual cue helps us break camouflage and

differentiate things visually from their surroundings 21
Class Discussion 1
Can you identify the components of visual cues on the dashboard ?

Source: https://dapresy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Image-4.png; 22
http://www.sas-sr.com/intro_sas/mercredi/major.PNG
Class Discussion 1
Can you identify the components of visual cues on the dashboard ?
Colour
Shape
Angles
Length

Area and Volume

Position

Direction

Source: https://dapresy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Image-4.png; 23
http://www.sas-sr.com/intro_sas/mercredi/major.PNG
Coordinate
Systems
Coordinate Systems - Types
The cartesian coordinate system
‣ Two fixed perpendicular reference lines- x-axis and y-axis

‣ Both axes meet at a point, called the

origin (0,0)
‣ The numerical coordinates are the
signed distance from the origin

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Coordinate Systems - Types
The polar coordinate system
‣ The fixed point (0,0) is called the pole

‣ The ray or half-line from the pole in the

fixed direction is called the polar axis

‣ Each data point is determined by the

distance and an angle

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Coordinate Systems - Types
The geographic coordinate system
‣ Represents every location on the earth using latitude and longitude

– Latitude lines run east and west

– Longitude lines run north and south

– Elevation can be thought of as a third

dimension (height above sea level)

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Scales
Scales - Types
Linear Scale
‣ Visual spacing between each of the data points is the same regardless where the data
points are on the axis

Source:
https://www.google.com/search?q=examples+
of+linear+scales&rlz=1C1GCEA_enSG969SG969

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Scales - Types
Logarithmic scale
‣ Takes very large, exponentially
growing numbers and displays
them in a way that is easier for
the brain to understand
‣ Is used when numbers multiply
by a factor larger than 2 from
one time interval to another

Source: 30
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithmic_scale
Scales - Types
Percent scale
‣ It is used to represent part of the whole data, its maximum is 100 percent

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Source: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/num/percentages.html
Scales - Types
Categorical scale
Example: The housing
variable with the three
categories
• for free
• own and
• rent

Source:
https://www.saedsayad.com/categorical_variables.htm

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Scales - Types
Time scale
Used to plot temporal
data on a linear scale, or
to divide the temporal
data on a categorical
scale, such as by year,
month or day

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Context
Context
The big idea
‣ Context is a data visualisation component that lends to better understanding of who,
what, when, where and why of the data
‣ Focus-context problem in data visualisation

1. The viewer needs both overview and details of the information simultaneously
2. Information needed in the overview may be different from that needed in the
detail
3. Need to combine both types within a single interactive data visualisation

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Context
Solving the focus-context problem - distortion
Spatially distorts the data
presentation to give more room Hyperbolic Tree Browser
to the designated points of
interest, and to decrease the
space given to regions away
from those points

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Source: https://zylab.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/hyperbolic_tree.png
Context
Solving the focus-context problem - rapid zooming
Allows viewers to zoom rapidly in and out of points of interest

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Source: http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/hyrad-static-and-rapid.jpg
Context
Solving the focus-context problem - multiple windows
Allows viewers to
have one window
that shows an
overview of the data,
and several other
windows that show
the expanded details

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Source: https://www.devexpress.com/products/net/dashboard/i/demos/winforms-hr-dashboard.png
Tableau (Class
Activity)
Class Activity Task

• Sit with your GBA’s team mates (optional)

• Discuss why the plots/charts are bad visualisation example and suggest ways to improve
the plots/charts.

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Class Activity Task

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Source: http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/ASTR3130/lablinks/GuidePlots.html
Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/learn-more/chart-dos-and-donts; http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/mlc- 43
downloads/downloads/submissions/35277/versions/3/previews/html/Pie_Chart_2D_2_01.png
Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/learn-more/chart-dos-and-donts; http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/mlc- 44
downloads/downloads/submissions/35277/versions/3/previews/html/Pie_Chart_2D_2_01.png
Tableau (Class
Activity)
Tableau (Class Activity)

• Sit in your GBA groups (optional)

• Ensure that you have a working copy of Tableau Desktop installed on your computer
• Ensure that you have the following datasets downloaded onto your computer:
– global_superstore_2016.xlsx
– Sales 2016.xlsx
– Products 2016.csv
– Coffee Chain.xlsx
– Office City.xlsx

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Table Join

This file shows 51,290 rows of online shopping customers with orders and returns from 2012 to 2015.
1. Connect to data: global_superstore_2016.xlsx
2. Drag Orders to right side
3. Double click Orders
4. Drag Returns to right side, next to Orders
5. The default join type is inner join. Order ID is set to be the key for join. 47
Table Join
Join Type Result
Inner
The resulting table contains values that have matches in both source tables.
When a value doesn't match across both source tables, it is dropped entirely.

Left
The resultant table contains all values from the first source table and corresponding matches from
the second source table.

When a value in the first source table doesn't have a corresponding match in the second source
table, you see a null value in the resulting table.

Right
The resultant table contains all values from the second source table and corresponding matches
from the first source table.

When a value in the second source table doesn't have a corresponding match in the first source
table, you see a null value in the resulting table.

Full outer
The resultant table contains all values from both the source tables.

When a value from either source table doesn't have a match with the other table, you see a null 48
value in the resultant table.
Table Join – Joined Visual

1. Add visual
2. Order date ➔ Columns
3. Click “+” sign before Year and move Year to
color
4. Returned ➔ Rows
5. Switch Returned Measure ➔ count
6. Sales ➔ Rows

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Cross-database Join
1. Go to home page
2. Add MS Excel → Sales 2016
3. Add Text Files → Products 2016
4. Double click “Sheet1” on the right.
5. Drag “Products 2016.csv” to the
right.
6. Drag “Sales” to the right
7. Go to a new worksheet

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Cross-database Join

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 Data Blending 1.
2.
Go to home page,
Add MS Excel → Office City
3. Click on database icon next to Purchases (Office City)
4. Click New Data Source
A company owns an
5. Add MS Excel → Coffee Chain
Office Equipment
store, and a Coffee
Chain is attached to
some of the stores.
They wish to
calculate combined
revenue data in all
US states.
They have two tables
from these different
business units.

More info: 52
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/multiple_connections.htm
Data Blending
1. Rename Measures Sales to include business
Discuss to identify: 2. Rows → State (Office City)
Primary and Secondary data 3. Columns → Sales (Office City)
sources 4. Columns → Sales (Coffee Chain)

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Data Blending 1. Create Calculated Field in Office City
2. Name it TotalSales
When combining sales to a Total
3. Create Formula
Sales, totals are not shown if not
both business units have sales. SUM([Sheet1 (Coffee Chain)].[Sales Coffee Chain]) +
SUM([Sales Office City])

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Data Blending 1. Edit Measure TotalSales
2. Change Formula to:
Therefore, a condition is needed
testing whether Coffee Chain IIF(ISNULL(SUM([Sheet1 (Coffee Chain)].[Sales Coffee Chain])),
shows sales. SUM([Sales Office City]),
If Coffee Chain does not have SUM([Sheet1 (Coffee Chain)].[Sales Coffee Chain]) +
sales, only Office City is shown. SUM([Sales Office City])
)

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Pivot Data from Columns to Rows
Pivot from wide format to long format
Go to home page, connect to data_prep_flights.xlsx

More info: 56
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/pivot.htm
Pivot
Pivot from wide format to long format
To long format, date as rows:
1. Select all the date columns
2. Click “Pivot”
3. Rename the columns

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Split
Split “Employee” column
1. Select “Employee” column, select “Custom
Split”
2. Use the separator “-”, and split off “All”
3. Rename the new columns

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Split

Sort 59
Exercise
1. Use the dataset, survey_results_wide_format (survey_results)
2. Pivot the dataset from wide format to long format
3. Create the following chart

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Tableau (Class Activity)

1. Sit with your GBA’s teammates (optional)

2. Follow your instructor for the following exercises:

- Data:
- global_superstore_2016.xlsx (orders)
- Coffee Chain.xlsx and Office City.xlsx

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Calculation: Aggregate vs Record-Level
Building Measures
Data: Global_superstore_2016 (orders)

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Create a Calculated Field

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Aggregate Functions

1. Aggregation of a measure
2. Aggregation of a dimension

More information:
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/calculations_aggregation.htm 64
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/calculations_calculatedfields_aggregate_create.htm
Aggregate Functions
• Attribute:

• It can provide a way to aggregate dimensions when computing table calculations, which require an
aggregate expression.

• Using Attribute in a table calculation (optional). Example:

https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/calculations_aggregation.htm#aggregating-
dimensions

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Exercise

• Use the data Office City and Coffee Chain

• Apply data blending to show the sales from Office City (primary data) and Coffee Chain
• Create a calculated field: for each state, calculating combined sales from office city.xlsx
and coffee chain.xlsx

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 • Create a calculated field: for each state, calculating combined sales
from office city.xlsx and coffee chain.xlsx
Exercise

Go to Data, Office
City, then create a ZN() This returns the expression if it is not null; otherwise, it returns zero.
calculated field

Change the
color in “Marks”
for each of the
“Sales” columns

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Quick Table Calculation
Percent of total
• Data: Global_superstore_2016 (orders)
• Rows → Sales
• Columns → Category
• Go to “Rows” and select drop down menu of
“Sum(sales)”.
• Select “Add Table Calculation” and change
Calculation Type to “Percent of total”.
• Add mark label: press and hold control then drag
sum(sales) delta to “Label” in Marks

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Quick Table Calculation
Running total: apply when one dimension is time

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Quick Table Calculation
Running total for each year: Is this chart correct?

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Quick Table Calculation
running total for each year:

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Quick Table Calculation
Compare “Compute Using”:

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Quick Table Calculation

To have both sales and table

calculations:
1. Category → Rows
2. Subcategory → Rows
3. Measure Names → Columns
4. Measure Values → Marks (Text)
5. Table calculation for SUM(Sales),
percent of total
6. Drag another SUM(Sales) to Measure
Values list
7. Remove unwanted measure values

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Exercise

Subtotal: Analysis ➔Totals ➔Add

all subtotals

Percent of total

Grand Total: Analysis ➔Totals

➔Show column grand totals

More Information: 74
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/calculations_tablecalculations.htm
Tableau File Extension
File Type File Extension Purpose
Tableau Workbook .twb It contains information on each sheet and dashboard that is present in a
workbook. It has the details of the fields which are used in each view and the
formula applied to the aggregation of the measures. It also has the formatting
and styles applied. It also contains the data source connection information and
any metadata information created for that connection.
Tableau Packaged Workbook .twbx This file format contains the details of workbook as well as the local data that is
used in the analysis. Its purpose is to be shared with other Tableau desktop or
Tableau reader users assuming it does not need data from the server.
Tableau Data source .tds The details of the connection used to create the tableau report are stored in this
file. In the connection details it stores the source type(excel/relational/sap etc.)
as well as the data types of the columns.
Tableau Packaged Data source .tdsx This file is similar to the .tds file with the addition of data along with the
connection details.
Tableau Data Extract .tde This file contains the data used in a .twb file in a highly compressed columnar
data format. This helps in storage optimization. It also saves the aggregated
calculations that are applied in the analysis. This file should be refreshed to get
the updated data from the source.

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