DATA VISUALIZATION DESIGN,

CONSULTING & TRAINING

 :Trainers Profile:

7 Years of experience working alongside

multi-national organizations to develop range
of Analytics and Intelligent DSS capabilities.
TABLEAU DESKTOP CERTIFIED SPECIALIST
ACCA – BSc HONS. APPLIED ACCOUNTING
Welcome!

WELCOME TO ALL RESPECTED PARTICIPANTS

AND FUTURE DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKERS
Please consider writing up notes during the session including
your questions which will be addressed in the break session.
 WEEK 1

Understanding the
Product and Basic
Tableau Operations
Tableau is a data analytics and
visualization tool used widely in the Seeing is understanding, we humans are highly visual beings. Is there not a term, seeing is
believing. And it is so true in terms of Data. Seeing is indeed believing. Tableau’s ability to
industry today. Many businesses even deliver a user-friendly solution genuinely makes your customers happy.

consider it indispensable for data-

science-related work. Tableau's ease One shoe does not fit all, Tableau provides you that flexibility with different
of use comes from the fact that it has version Desktop: for individual needs, Server: for enterprise needs. Different
Mobile versions are also available for iOS and Android.
a drag and drop interface. This feature
helps to perform tasks like sorting, Tableau makes analyzing data fast and easy. It has set golden standards for self-
comparing and analyzing, very easily service BI tools which provides business users to analyze data without any need of
IT intervention. You don’t need to code in Tableau. Most of the functionality is
possible using drag and drop.
and fast. Tableau is also compatible
with multiple sources, including Excel,
Tableau easily lets you to leverage the power of database. You can connect to database
SQL Server, and cloud-based data views. Tableau helps you optimize the query performance. Above it, with Tableau you can
connect to different data sources easily. Be it file based Excel/CSV, relational databases
repositories which makes it an such as Teradata/SQL or Cloud-based data sources as Google Analytics.

excellent choice for Data Scientists.

9 REASONS TO BELIEVE IN…
WHO SHOULD LEARN
- Professionals working with large data-sets on Excel sheets daily.
- Data scientists and Visual Analysts for making Business strategies in a company.
- Entry-level individuals aspiring to become data scientists.
- Marketing & Sales professionals for presenting their Data
- Higher authorities or Management level require crispier insights in short span of time
- BI Administrators.
- Data Analysts.

AVERAGE SALARIES
UNDERSTANDING THE PRODUCTS:

Tableau Creator You might be a Creator if…

Tableau Explorer You might be an Explorer if…
Analytics is in your everyday job description. You are a Line of Business data user who likes
to get hands-on with data.
You need to join many data sources together
to perform analysis. You need to create your own visualizations
using data sources curated by others.
You build or curate data sources for others.
You want to take visualizations and
You need to clean and transform data in dashboards built by others and edit or
addition to analyzing it. customize them.
You will manage or administer a Tableau You will administer content on a Tableau
Server or Online implementation. Server or Online site.

$70 | DESKTOP – CREATOR $35 | DESKTOP – EXPLORER

Includes 1 Server Admin License -----------------------------------------
UNDERSTANDING THE PRODUCTS:

Tableau
Tableau Admin
Reader/Viewer You might be a Viewer if… You might be an Admin if…
You will administer content on a Tableau
You need data-oriented insights to do your Server or Online site.
job, but you don’t have time or skills to do If you are required to maintain Tableau
deep analytics yourself. schedules and services.
If you are tasked for daily backups.
You want to interact with visuals others have If you are required to create users and
built, but not build your own. administer them in groups.

$12 | SERVER – VIEWER INCLUDED WITH CREATOR

OR USE READER FOR FREE -----------------------------------------
UNDERSTANDING THE PRODUCTS:

Your organization is full of people doing different things with data whether they recognize it or not. Some use data to
answer questions to drive their lines of business forward. Others prepare spreadsheets and reports that they
distribute within their department. Some others pull in raw data from cloud applications or grab quick snapshots of
important KPIs to use during team meetings.
WHERE CAN WE PRACTICE FOR FREE?
1

REMEMBER YOUR DATA WILL BE

PUBLICLY HOSTED IN CLOUD AND
VISUALIZATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE
TO EVERYONE FOR VIEW
2

BEST FOR NEW COMERS

AND STUDENTS/PROFESSIONALS
LOOKING TO LEARN VIZUALIZATIONS

BIG COMMUNITY TO LEARN FROM!

 Learning the Basics
A High Five with Tableau!

WEEK 1
LETS UNDERSTAND THE INTERFACE..
1. Workbook

The name of a Tableau file that holds visualization. It usually takes the format of
.twb or .twbx.

2. Data source

A single data table compiled in Tableau. It is the source of the data that individual
visualizations will use as their basis. It can be created from a single source
connection or multiple of them, through joining or unioning.

3. Connection

Within a data source, you can have multiple external sources of data, and you’ll
have a connection to each of them. These are established making use of Tableau’s
wide range of data connectors (Excel files, SQL servers, Amazon, Google Analytics,
etc.)

4. Sheet

A single tab within a workbook that holds a single, coherent visualization.

LETS UNDERSTAND THE INTERFACE..
5. Shelf

The name of few designated areas on the User Interface of Tableau. These are the
areas onto which you can drag data fields to create your visualizations. Few of them
are the ‘Filter’ shelf, the ‘Rows’ shelf and the ‘Columns’ shelf.

6. Pill

When you start dragging a data field from your dimensions or measures, it becomes
a pill, essentially the drag-and-droppable object on the UI. It also has a “carrot”, a
small downward-pointing arrow, that opens up and options menu when clicked.

7. Marks

When you drag a pill onto any of the shelves, data will be displayed using Marks.
Each measure will be visualized in each intersection of dimensions you put on your
visualization. You an change Color, Size, Label, Detail, Tooltip and Shapes on Points.

8. Sets
Its often we need to identify group of based on a criteria in multiple visuzalization,
sets enable your to cohort your categories according to set measure criterias.
LETS UNDERSTAND THE INTERFACE..
9. Dimension

A data field type. In a sheet, you’ll see them being under the dimensions category
on the left. They are fields, that you would usually categorize or order numeric data
by (e.g. time or product category).

10. Measure

The second data field type. These are numerical data, such as sales amounts,
quantities, profit, etc.

11. Filters

This is also interactive functionality that help you cut through your data, when you
select your choices, it filters out the data and displays relevant results.

12. Parameters

This is also interactive functionality that help you pass on user input to the model or
visualization, for example user can input 10 to pull out top 10 results.
LETS UNDERSTAND THE INTERFACE..
13. Dashboard

This is a canvas where all related sheets are placed and tuned for interactivity.
All the data displayed is connected and actions on the dashboard reflect on the each
visualization displayed.

14. Story

This is alternative to the presentation part such as PowerPoint, Now you can directly
present your findings and analysis in story mode with your custom views and
annotations to bring users to light.

15. Analytics

These functionality relate with Advance insights and analysis ranging from Trend
spotting to Forecast to Clustering similar and relate patterns in the Data.

16. Pages

These are sophisticate view filters that keep intact data aggregation level and
provide you a filtered view your data without compromising totals.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
DATA SOURCE PANE

META GRID

DATA GRID
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
CONNECTING EXCEL DATA FILES (*.xls,*.xlsx)

OR JUST
COPY & PASTE

FROM MS EXCEL
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
CONNECTING UNCLEAN EXCEL DATA FILES (*.xls,*.xlsx)

The Data Interpreter is a feature when

connecting to Excel files. It is designed to
help identify the structure of the data in the
Excel file and turn it into the proper format
for analysis in Tableau. Excel files can really
be structured in all sorts of different ways
and they often contain extra footer and
header rows around the data. The Data
Interpreter takes care of cleaning and
transforming that data for you.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
CONNECTING TEXT DATA FILES (*.csv,*.txt)
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
CONNECTING SQL DATA SOURCE
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA.. •Amazon Redshift
•Aster Database
CONNECTING OTHER DATA SOURCES •Cloudera Hadoop
•Google BigQuery
•Hortonworks Hadoop
•Vertica
•IBM DB2
•IBM PDA (Netezza)
•Microsoft SQL
•MySQL
•Oracle
•PostgreSQL
•Pivotal Greenplum Database
•SAP Sybase ASE
•SAP Sybase IQ
•Teradata

AND MANY MORE…

NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA.. Inner

When you use an inner join to combine tables, the result is a

table that contains values that have matches in both tables.
JOINING DATA
Left

When you use a left join to combine tables, the result is a table
that contains all values from the left table and corresponding
matches from the right table. When a value in the left table
doesn’t have a corresponding match in the right table, you see a
null value in the data grid.

Right

When you use a right join to combine tables, the result is a table
that contains all values from the right table and corresponding
matches from the left table. When a value in the right table
doesn’t have a corresponding match in the left table, you see a
null value in the data grid.

Full Outer

When you use a full outer join to combine tables, the result is a
table that contains all values from both tables. When a value
from either table doesn’t have a match with the other table, you
see a null value in the data grid.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
PIVOTING DATA
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
UNIONING DATA
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
UNIONING DATA
With Wildcard Pattern Based Union, you can set up
a process where any number of similar CSVs can be
Union automatically.

If you can get information out of any system in a

tabular format (rows and columns) and write it to a
text file, you can use this technique to create ever-
updating extracts. Many systems already have a CSV
export option — if you can schedule this download,
you are done.Even if you have to do that manually,
it’s easily doable.

For example: Core banking system Temenos

produces flat files, or many power monitoring ERPs
provide .csvs & .txts as output.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
UNIONING DATA
Unioning is a method for appending values (that
is, rows) to tables. You can union tables if they
have the same columns. The result of combining
data using a union is a virtual table that has the
same columns but extends vertically by adding
rows of data.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
APPLYING DATA SOURCE FILTERS
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
CREATING EXTRACTS

“Extract” is a word you’re going to hear a lot in Tableau. Extracts are one of the most
powerful but overlooked tools in Tableau’s arsenal.

Tableau Data Extracts are snapshots of data optimized for aggregation and loaded into
system memory to be quickly recalled for visualization. Extracts tend to be much faster
than live connections, especially in more complex visualizations with large data sets,
filters, calculations, etc.

However, because an extract is a snapshot of the data, the extract will need to be
refreshed to receive updates from the original data source, whether it is a local file or
an on-premise database.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
OPTIMIZING EXTRACTS
Extracts can be optimized for even better performance results. To optimize an extract,
simply right-click on a data source and select Data > Extract > Optimize

Optimization accelerates performance by materializing calculated fields when possible.

This means that Tableau actually generates values for calculated fields in the extract so
that those values can be looked up instead of calculated. Note that not all calculated
fields are materialized. Fields that are not materialized include table calculations,
changeable or unstable functions, such as NOW() and TODAY(), and calculated fields
using parameters.

When an extract is first created, it is automatically optimized. In other words,

calculated fields are automatically materialized when possible. However, over the
course of time, calculated fields may be altered that will cause the extract to drop
materialized fields. At such times, Extract > Compute Calculations Now must be
selected in order to regenerate the materialized fields
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
DATA BLENDING
Data Blending in Tableau is analogous to V-LOOKUP in Excel, but Tableau makes it so very powerful and easy. VLOOKUP is used
when we have two data sources, and we are trying to figure out the matchup between the two.

CAUTION:
Blending in Tableau is highly case sensitive and string sensitive,
which means if there is a unrequired space in strings from two
blending data-sources tableau will not be able to pickup.
Remember even V-Lookup fails spaced matches.

To correct mapping, you will require to either manually alter

data-sources and correct it or rather use aliases option to do
the workaround on Tableau.
NOW CONNECT YOUR DATA..
HOW TO DECIDE ON JOIN OR BLEND?
WHEN.. LOOKUP IS REQUIRED FROM OTHER DATA SOURCE WHEN.. LOOKUP IS REQUIRED FROM SAME DATA SOURCE

BLEND IT JOIN IT

Joining is where you are able to combine data from the SAME data source, for example worksheets in an Excel file or tables in an Oracle database. You need a common field,
also called a key, that tells Tableau how to join the data. You also need a key to do blending.

Blending is where you able to combine data from DIFFERENT data sources, for example a worksheet in Excel with a table from an Oracle database. This is very powerful
because in the past you would typically need to have someone with the specific technical skills create a new data set with the combined information.
RELATIONSHIPS in 2020..
“join culling”—basically a process by which the data engine removes unnecessary joins.
Relationships are a dynamic, flexible way to combine data from multiple tables for
analysis. A relationship describes how two independent, logical tables relate to each
other, but does not merge the tables together. When a relationship is created between
tables, the tables remain separate (normalized), maintaining their native level of detail
and domains. You can use relationships to create multi-fact data models.

You can’t set a join type for relationships. Relationships defer joins to the time and
context of analysis. Tableau automatically selects what join types should be used based
on the current fields in use in the viz. During analysis, Tableau adjusts join types
intelligently and preserves the native level of detail in your data. You can see
aggregations at the level of detail of the fields in your viz rather than having to think
about the underlying joins.

Relationships can be many-to-many and support full outer joins. You don't need to use
LOD expressions such as FIXED to deduplicate data in related tables.

https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-
us/datasource_datamodel_faq.htm
BEFORE BUILDING A VIEW…
LEARNING ICONS AND SYMBOLS
BEFORE BUILDING A VIEW…
LEARNING ICONS AND SYMBOLS
BEFORE BUILDING A VIEW…
LEARNING ICONS AND SYMBOLS

Change the data type for a field in the Data pane

To change the data type of a field in the Data pane, click the
icon to the left of the field name, and then choose a new data
type from the drop-down list.
BEFORE BUILDING A VIEW…
LEARNING ICONS AND SYMBOLS
MANIPULATING VIEW…
USING MARKS CARD
MANIPULATING VIEW… DROP MEASURE OR DIMENSION ON COLOR CARD

USING MARKS CARD: COLOR

MANIPULATING VIEW… DROP MEASURE ON SIZE CARD

USING MARKS CARD: SIZE

MANIPULATING VIEW… DROP MEASURE OR DIMENSION ON LABEL CARD

USING MARKS CARD: LABEL

MANIPULATING VIEW… DROP DIMENSION ON DETAIL CARD

USING MARKS CARD: DETAIL

MANIPULATING VIEW… DROP DIMENSION OR MEASURE ON TOOLTIP CARD

USING MARKS CARD: TOOLTIP

MANIPULATING VIEW… DROP DIMENSION ON SHAPE CARD

USING MARKS CARD: SHAPE

 WHAT IS GREEN AND BLUE PILL?
Continuous means "forming an unbroken whole, without interruption";
Discrete means "individually separate and distinct“;

Continuous is always numeric Discrete may be a string

Continuous values can't Discrete values can be sorted
Continuous colors are gradients Discrete colors are distinct
Continuous creates axes Discrete creates headers

CONTINOUS DISCRETE
MEASURE : CONTINOUS VS DISCRETE
DIMENSION : CONTINOUS VS DISCRETE
Date dimensions can be discrete or continuous
USING BASIC FILTERS IN TABLEAU
Dimension filters, Measure filters, Date filters
USING BASIC FILTERS IN TABLEAU
DIMENSION FILTERS, Measure filters , Date filters
• General: Use the General tab to select the values you want to
include or exclude.

• Wilcard: Use the Wildcard tab to define a pattern to filter on.

For example, when filtering on email addresses you might want
to only include emails from a specific domain. You can define a
wildcard filter that ends with ‘@gmail.com’ to only include
Google email addresses.

• Condition: Use the Condition tab in the Filter dialog box to

define rules to filter by. For example, in a view showing the
average Unit Price for a collection of products, you may want to
only show the Products that have an average unit price that is
greater than or equal to £25. You can use the built-in controls to
write a condition or you can write a custom formula.

• Top: Use the Top tab in the Filter dialog box to define a formula
that computes the data that will be included in the view. For
example, in a view that shows the average Time to Ship for a
collection of products, you can decide to only show the top 15
products by Sales. Rather then having to define a specific range
for Sales (e.g., greater than £100,000), you can define a limit (top
15) that is relative to the other members in the field (products).
USING BASIC FILTERS IN TABLEAU
Dimension filters, MEASURE FILTERS, Date filters

Range of Values: Select the Range of Values option to specify

the minimum and maximum values of the range to include in
the view. The values you specify are included in the range.

At Least: Select the At Least option to include all values that are
greater than or equal to a specified minimum value. This type of
filter is useful when the data changes often, therefore
specifying an upper limit may not be possible.

At Most: Select the At Most option to include all values that are
less than or equal to a specified maximum value. This type of
filter is useful when the data changes often, therefore
specifying a lower limit may not be possible.

Special (Tableau Desktop only): Select the Special option to

filter on Null values. Include only Null values, Non-null values or
All Values.
USING BASIC FILTERS IN TABLEAU
Dimension filters, Measure filters, DATE FILTERS

Filter relative dates: Click Relative dates to define a range of dates that
updates, based on the date and time you open the view. For example, you
may want to see Year to Date sales, all records from the past 30 days, or
bugs closed last week. Relative date filters can also be relative to a specific
anchor date rather than today.

Filter a range of dates: Select Range of dates to define a fixed range of

dates to filter. For example, you may want to see all orders placed between
1 March 2009 and 12 June 2009.

Filter discrete dates: Select a discrete date value in the dialog box if you
want to include entire date levels. For example, if you select Quarters, you
can choose to filter specific quarters (e.g. Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) from your view,
regardless of the year.

Latest date preset: If you want to ensure that only the most recent date in
a data source is selected in the filter when the workbook is shared or
opened, select a discrete date such as Month/Day/Year or Individual Dates
and then, on the General tab, select Filter to latest date value when
workbook is opened.
 ENGAGING USERS WITH PARAMETERS
Parameters are useful when you want to add interactivity and
flexibility to a report, or to experiment with what-if scenarios.
Suppose you are unsure which fields to include in your view or
which layout would work best for your viewers. You can
incorporate parameters into your view to let viewers choose
how they want to look at the data.

When you work with parameters, consider the following two

things that are important in making them useful:

- They need to be used in calculations.

- The control needs to be displayed so that viewers can interact.

Parameter can be made of String, Integer, Floating Value, Date,

Time and Boolean.

These can be displayed as List, Sliders and Manual Inputs.

PRACTICAL
LAB 1

WEEK 1
Taking baby steps: Connect to your data
1. Open Tableau. On the start
page, under Connect / Saved
Data Sources, click Excel.

2. In the Open dialog box,

navigate to the Sample -
Superstore Excel file on your
computer.

3. After you connect to the Excel

data, the data source page
shows the sheets in your data.
Drag the "Orders" to the canvas
to start exploring that data.

4. Click the sheet tab to go to the

new worksheet and begin your
analysis.
Flying from the cliff: Build a view from scratch
1. Drop Order Date on
Columns Shelve.
2. Now Drop Profit on Rows
Shelve.

3. Tableau transforms the table

into a line chart and creates a
vertical axis (along the left side)
for the measure.
Flying from the cliff: Build a view from scratch
1. Drop Order Date on Columns
Shelve.

2. Now Drop Profit on

Rows Shelve.
3. Tableau transforms the table
into a line chart and creates a
vertical axis (along the left side)
for the measure.
Flying from the cliff: Build a view from scratch
1. Drop Order Date on Columns
Shelve.

2. Now Drop Profit on Rows

Shelve.

3. Tableau transforms the

table into a line chart
and creates a vertical
axis (along the left side)
for the measure.
Flying from the cliff: Build a view from scratch

A line chart is a great way to compare data over time and identify trends effectively.
This line chart shows profit over time. Each point along the line shows the sum of profit for the
corresponding year. Do you know what chart to use for showing contribution of more than 5
categories? Answer: Treemap
Drilling down the details: Quarterly Breakup
1. Drop Order Date on Columns
Shelve.

2. Now Drop Profit on Rows

Shelve.

3. Tableau transforms the table

into a line chart and creates a
vertical axis (along the left side)
for the measure.

4. Now click plus button on

Year Pill. Tableau will
drill Year to Quarter!
Automatically 
 Being Specific: Filtering Results
• The Filters shelf allows
you to specify which
data to include and
exclude. For example,
you might want to
analyze the profit for
each customer
segment, but only for
certain shipping
containers and delivery
times. By placing fields
on the Filters shelf, you
can create such a view.
 Being Specific: Filtering Results
• The Filters shelf allows
you to specify which
data to include and
exclude. For example,
you might want to
analyze the profit for
each customer
segment, but only for
certain shipping
containers and delivery
times. By placing fields
on the Filters shelf, you
can create such a view.
Learning the
concepts: filters
card Being Specific: Filtering Results
1. Drag Segment on to Rows Shelves before (Profit) Field.
2. Drag the Order Date measure from the Data pane and drop it on the Filters shelf.
2. In the Filter Field dialog box, choose the date level you want to filter on—Years. Then click Next.
3. Select 2013 & 2014
4. Click OK.
Learning the
concepts: filters
card Visualizing Regions: Spreading Colors
1. Add Region to the Colors Marks Card.
2. Tableau will now bifurcate regions in the view by colors per each segment per each year.

Placing a dimension on Color separates the marks according to the members in the dimension, and assigns a
unique color to each member. The color legend displays each member name and its associated color.
 Try at home: Create a Visualization

- Lets do a very basic visualization!

• Install:
• Tableau Public

• Dataset:
• EU Super Store Dataset.

• Task:
• At least 5 Sheets of Discovery Analysis