Tableau — A Beginners Guide

A brief and concise tutorial to getting started with Tableau Software.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLATION

Tableau Public —

Tableau Public is your free data visualisation software. Currently while working on this blog, I am using the Tableau Public Platform. You can download the Tableau Public software from the link provided below.

https://public.tableau.com/s/

For students —

Since I had created this post specifically for an upskilling session at my alma mater, I am sharing the download link for students. Students enrolled in accredited institutions can claim the Tableau Student License for a year through the Tableau for Students Program by providing their academic details. If your Tableau Student License expires, you can renew the same by submitting the form again.

Download Tableau for Students: https://www.tableau.com/academic/students
Renew your Tableau Student License :   https://www.tableau.com/academic/students

For Working Professionals —

If you a working professional referring this article, you can check their wide range of products for your business needs and also sign up for a free trial :

https://www.tableau.com/products

Around the Tableau Platform in a few minutes

Let’s take a quick look at the dashboard and some of their cool features that are essential to get started —

The startup page

Here’s what your startup page of Tableau Public for desktop looks like

1. On the left pane, you will find options to connect to your dataset/database. On the right pane, you find options to take a tour of their tutorial, interact with the sample datasets or check the Viz of the day to just name a few. You can also pick a sample dataset from Tableau to get started!
2. Find your projects at the centre of the page or open the Viz you have saved to your profile from the ‘Open from Tableau’ option on the top right corner.

The dashboard —

Let’s understand the next steps with the help of a project. For this I am using a dummy dataset that clearly does not indicate anything specific or refer to any original stats. You can download the dummy dataset from here: Click on this link.

Steps :

1. Connect to the file by clicking on the Microsoft Excel Option from the startup page.
2. You will now see the page that displays your connected data sheet. See image below —

3. Since this a dummy dataset, there is no need for pre-processing steps at all. All the data types and fields are fit for creating the visualisations. Note : These are dummy values.

4. Click on Sheet 1 and we are good to get started now!

5. Congrats, you have now unlocked The Dashboard! 👏

Your dashboard

Viz is the Latest Buzz —

You can leverage Tableau to perform Exploratory Data Analysis, Business Intelligence and for visualising important reports, we will understand the next steps by exploring the data a bit and take a look at some of the visualisations we can have!

Next steps —

I. Bar Graph

1. We are creating a basic bar graph/chart to get started. We would like to check the number of vote counts per region. To do so — drag ‘County’ from Dimensions to Column Space and ‘Vote Count’ from Measures. Dimensions are represented as 🌐 and Measures as #️⃣.
2. Your first Viz is ready!

To see the different visualisation charts available, click on “Show Me” option on the top right corner. It expands to show the different visualisation charts and what metrics/parameters are needed to create a particular chart

II. Pie Chart

1. To create a pie chart, let’s open a new sheet. Click on the symbol next to Sheet 1. This opens a new dashboard/sheet for you. In the new sheet — Sheet 2, click on ‘Restaurant Code’ from 🌐. Press ctrl key and select from #️⃣ measure ‘Overall Satisfaction Ratings’. Now from the Show Me option click on the Pie Chart option. Your pie chart has appeared on the sheet!
2. From the toolbar click on the drop down menu that reads as ‘Standard’ and select ‘Entire View’.
3. Place your cursor on any one slice of the pie diagram and you can see the values and parameters we have chosen. Since we have chosen Restaurant Code as the 🌐, let’s add a label ‘County’ for better understanding.
4. To add label, drag ‘County’ from 🌐 to the space named as Mark >Label. You can also drag the ‘Restaurant Code’ in the same manner for better mapping and ease of understanding.

III. Lollipop Chart

Say, your team has come up with a campaign (utterly hypothetical since we are working with dummy dataset) that for score that a particular franchise receives towards employee satisfaction, you will plant as many trees (can be for various reasons, maybe you are contributing towards a better world by linking positive feedback for employees with planting trees).

I will show a lollipop chart that represents the stats (number of tress planted this year as well the positive score received) in a way that look like trees. 🍭

1. Drag ‘County’ from 🌐 to column space and ‘Well-trained Employee’ from #️⃣ to row space twice. Note it’s important to drag the measure twice.
2. Click on the second ‘Well-trained employee’ measure and from the drop down menu, select dual axis. You will now see the chart area populated by bubble diagrams. Your sheet will look something like this —

3. Click on the ‘Marks’ space on the left side of the chart and select the first Well-trained employee measure.

4. From the drop down menu that reads ‘Automatic’ choose bar. Choose ‘Size’ from the options below and reduce the size of the bar. Change the color of the bar to orange from the ‘Color’ option next to ‘Size’.

5. Similarly from the second ‘Well-trained employee’ measure increase the size of the bubble.

6. You can also drag the ‘Well-trained employee’ measure from #️⃣ and add it to Marks>Label. Change the alignment and size from the Label drop down and you are good to go!

So far, so cool!

You can also create a map using the ‘County’ such that each click on a region reveals that restaurants stats. Here’s a map I have created and linked the regions to it’s various stats for easy navigation.

You can also add actions and edit the tooltip to make it easier to understand at the first glance!

Saving the workbook —

1. From the toolbar, click on the Save icon 💾. Since this is a Tableau Public you will have the option to save the workbook to your public profile.
2. Make sure you save the sheets and workbook by giving them appropriate names first.
3. Sign in using your login details/create an account for free.
4. All the changes you make in the future, will be saved to the same workbook on Tableau Public.
5. All done, share your workbook with your team! 🎉

View the complete workbook here:

Tableau Public