Tableau Desktop Playbook:

Building Common Chart Types

COURSE OVERVIEW

Adam Crahen
HEAD OF DATA VISUALIZATION ENGINEERING | PLURALSIGHT
2018 TABLEAU ZEN MASTER
@acrahen thedataduo.com
Quickly Displaying Data with Variations of the
Text Table

Adam Crahen
HEAD OF DATA VISUALIZATION ENGINEERING | PLURALSIGHT
2018 TABLEAU ZEN MASTER
@acrahen thedataduo.com
Overview  Text Table Variations
• Text Table
• Highlight Table
• Heat Map
• Dot Plot
 For Each Chart Type

Learn Examples Build

What they’re used for and See some real-life examples How to create in Tableau
how to read
  Anarrangement of columns and rows that organizes
 What is a and positions data.
 Columns or rows can contain headers which describe
 Text Table? the values in each cell.
 We Use Text Tables Everyday
Weather

Stocks
Sports
• Easy to comprehend • Hard to find important data

• Low barrier to entry • Hard to see the shape

• Simplicity • Scalability

• Precision • No visual appeal

  Let’s Build a Basic Text Table In Tableau

Demo
  Compares categorical data using color
 What is a
 Used to identify patterns or correlation
 Highlight Table?  Use with or without labels
Example of Highlight Tables

Wall Street Journal Graphics

http://graphics.wsj.com/infectious-diseases-and-vaccines /
• Easy to comprehend • Limited number of dimensions

• Identifies patterns or correlation • Hard to see small differences in

using color amounts

• Visually appealing

• Scalability
  Let’s Build a Highlight Table In Tableau

Demo
  A Highlight Table?
 What is a
 Compares categorical data using size
 Heat map?  Used to identify patterns or correlation
Example of a Heat Map
• Easy to comprehend • Limited number of dimensions

• Identifies patterns or correlation • Hard to see small differences in

using Size and Color amounts

• Visually appealing

• Scalability
  Let’s Build a “Heat map” In Tableau

Demo
  Dots are positioned by value order
 What is a  Spaceefficient method for laying out ranks across
multiple categories
 Dot Plot?
 Allows you to see the entire distribution
Example of a Dot Plot
• Easy to comprehend • Potential for data overlap

• Good for showing individual vales • Audience data literacy

in a distribution

• Uses position to compare values

on an axis

• Visually appealing
  Let’s Build a Dot Plot In Tableau

Demo
Wrapping Up  Read, Build and Format
• Text Table
• Highlight Table
• Heat Map
• Dot Plot
• Jitter Plot
Presenting Distributions and Comparisons of
Data Using Bar Charts

Adam Crahen
HEAD OF DATA VISUALIZATION ENGINEERING | PLURALSIGHT
2018 TABLEAU ZEN MASTER
@acrahen thedataduo.com
 Concept
• Discrete vs. Continuous
Overview
Bar Charts
• Horizontal and Vertical Bars
• Stacked Bars
• Side-By-Side Bars
• Histograms
•Lollipop Chart
 For Each Chart Type

Learn Examples Build

What they’re used for and See some real-life examples How to create in Tableau
how to read
Concept
Discrete vs. Continuous
  A separate entity or individually distinct
 Blue pills in Tableau are discrete
 What Is Discrete?  Both dimensions & measures can be discrete
Tableau will draw headers when using a discrete pill on
the row or column shelf
  Continuing without interruption
 Green pills in Tableau are continuous
 What Is
 Both dimensions & measures can be continuous
Continuous?
Tableau will draw axes when using a continupous pill on
the row or column shelf
  Let’s See This Concept In Action

Demo
  Usedto compare the size of things or magnitude by
 What Is a encoding the length from zero to a value on an axis.
 Allows for relative (ability to see larger/smaller) or
 Bar Chart? absolute (ability to see fine differences) comparisons.
Examples of Bar Charts
Examples of Bar Charts

Design: Matt Chambers

• Easy to comprehend • Can be misused

• Easy to build • Can look cluttered with too many bars

• Categorical Comparisons • Less effective than lines when

showing trends over time
  Let’s Build a Bar Chart In Tableau

Demo
  Used to display a part-to-whole relationship
 Optional Variations
 What Is a - Absolute comparison of overall values
- Relative comparison of percentages of multiple
 Stacked Bar? data series
- Divergent stacked bar for surveys
Example of a Stacked Bar Chart
• Part-to-Whole Relationship • Difficult to read with a lot of
components
• Categorical Comparisons
• Different baselines make comparisons
difficult

• Audience data literacy

• Generally need some help to create a

better UX
  Let’s Build a Stacked Bar Chart In Tableau

Demo
  What Is a  Similar uses to the standard Bar Chart for comparing
the size (or magnitude) of data but allows for multiple
 Side-By-Side series comparisons

  Bar?
Examples of a Side-By-Side Bar Chart
Examples of a Side-By-Side Bar Chart
• Categorical Comparisons across • Difficult to read with a lot of
multiple data series components

• Bars are easy to comprehend • User Experience

  Let’s Build a Side-by-Side Bar Chart In Tableau

Demo
  The standard way to show a statistical distribution
 Shows the values in a data set and how often they
 What Is a occur

 Histogram?  Thisshape (or skew) can highlight the lack of

uniformity or equality in the data
Examples of a Histogram
• Display the shape or skew of data • Not great at categorical comparisons,
even when showing multiple
• Help identify if there are outliers histograms side-by-side.
or missing data
• It shows the number of values within a
• Especially useful for large value bin, but not the actual values
ranges
  Let’s Build a Histogram In Tableau

Demo
  Bar chart with a dot at the end
 What Is a  Usedto compare the size of things or magnitude by
encoding the length from zero to a value on an axis.
 Lollipop Chart?  Highlights the data value more than a standard bar
chart.
Example of Lollipop Chart

Design: Pooja Gandhi

• Easy to comprehend • The point at the end of our bars
overstates the value
• Easy to build
• Makes fine or absolute comparisons
• Categorical Comparisons harder
  Let’s Build a Lollipop Chart In Tableau

Demo
  Read, Build and Format
• Bar Charts
• Stacked Bars
Wrapping Up • Side-by-Side Bars
• Histograms
• Lollipop Charts

 Concepts
• Discrete vs. Continuous
• Removing Chart Junk
• Shape of Distributions
• Color Choice
Presenting Data Over Time
With Line Charts

Adam Crahen
HEAD OF DATA VISUALIZATION ENGINEERING | PLURALSIGHT
2018 TABLEAU ZEN MASTER
@acrahen thedataduo.com
  Variations
• Line Chart
Overview • Area Chart
• Dual Axis
• Step and Jump Lines
• Sparklines

 Concepts
• Discrete vs. Continuous
• Date Part vs. Date Value
 For Each Chart Type

Learn Examples Build

What they’re used for and See some real-life examples How to create in Tableau
how to read
Concept
Date Part vs. Date Value
  A part of a date like day, month or year
 An integer representing a date part
 What Is a  For example given May 10th 2019
 Day = 10
 Date Part?
 Month =5
 Year = 2019
  A truncated date
 For example given May 10th 2019
 What Is a
 Day = 5/10/2019
 Date Value?  Month = 5/1/2019
 Year = 1/1/2019
  Let’s See This Concept In Action

Demo
 Displays information in a series of data points
connected by straight segments
 What Is a
 Thestandard way to show changing data or trends
 Line Chart? over a time series
 Should only be used for ordinal data, not categorical
Examples of a Line Chart

Design: Pooja Gandhi

Examples of a Line Chart

Design: William Playfair

• The standard for displaying time • Should not be used to connect
series data categorical data

• Can be used with other ordinal • Hard to read when lots of lines are
data over-plotting each other

• Great at showing even small

changes in our data

• Scales very well

  Let’s Build a Line Chart In Tableau

Demo
 Based on a line chart
 What Is an
 Filled area between the plotted line and the x-axis
 Area Chart?  Should only be used for ordinal data, not categorical
Example of an Area Chart

Design: Curtis Harris

• Used to display magnitude over • Should not be used to connect
time series data categorical data

• Can be used with other ordinal • Potential of hidden data

data
• Stacked version and axis issues
• Scales well
  Let’s Build an Area Chart In Tableau

Demo
 A way to combine two charts into a shared axis in
 What Is a Tableau
 Provides access to a second marks card
 Dual Axis?
 Expands the possibilities of charts types
Examples of a Dual Axis Chart
Examples of a Dual Axis Chart
Examples of a Dual Axis Chart
Take time to understand the
pros and cons of each dual
axis chart you build
  Let’s Build an Area Chart In Tableau

Demo
  What Are Based on a line chart
Modified path
 Step Lines and
 Highlight significant changes between data
 Jump Lines? points
Example of a Jump Line
• Same Pros as Line Charts
• Can be used to deal with
inconsistent rate of change in our
data
• Should not be used to connect
categorical data
• Audience data literacy

• Emphasize magnitude with step

lines and duration with jump lines
  Let’s Build Step And Jump Lines In Tableau

Demo
 Very small line chart typically drawn without axes or
coordinates
 What Is a
 Presentthe general shape of variation over time in a
 Sparkline? simple and highly condensed way
 Often meant to highlight variation by truncating axes
Examples of Sparklines
• Extremely space efficient • Hard to extract details

• Shows general shape of data • Generally no axes are displayed and

they may be truncated
• Highlights variation

• Scales very well

  Let’s Build a Sparkline In Tableau

Demo
  Read, Build and Format
• Line Chart
• Area Chart
Wrapping Up • Dual Axis
• Step and Jump Lines
• Sparklines

 Concepts
• Discrete vs. Continuous
• Date Part vs. Date Value
• Exploring the How and Why
• Formatting
Unlocking Additional Context With Statistical
and Non-Standard Charts

Adam Crahen
HEAD OF DATA VISUALIZATION ENGINEERING | PLURALSIGHT
2018 TABLEAU ZEN MASTER
@acrahen thedataduo.com
  Chart Types
• Scatter Plot
Overview • Connected Scatter Plot
• Box and Whisker
• Bullet Chart
• Context Bars

Concepts
• Correlation
• Distribution
 For Each Chart Type

Learn Examples Build

What they’re used for and See some real-life examples How to create in Tableau
how to read
 The standard way to show the relationship or
 What Is a correlation between two continuous variables
 Eachvariable has it’s own axis and points are plotted
 Scatter Plot? on the position that corresponds to both axes
 Example of a Scatter Plot
Anscombe's quartet
• Displays range of data • Overplotting is a problem with dense
data
• Shows correlation between
variables • Audience Data Literacy

• Points can be clustered • People assume causation from

correlation
• Scales very well
  Let’s Build a Scatter Plot In Tableau

Demo
 A way to show the relationship or correlation between
two continuous variables where there is a relatively
 What Is a clear pattern of progression

Connected Scatter  Eachvariable has it’s own axis and points are plotted
on the position that corresponds to both axes
Plot?
Points are connected by order and help see changes
over time
Example of a Connected Scatter Plot
• Displays range of data • Overplotting is a problem with dense
data
• Shows correlation between
variables • Audience Data Literacy

• Connected points show a pattern

that would otherwise go unnoticed
  Let’s Build Connected Scatter Plot In Tableau

Demo
 Used to visually depict distributions through
 What Is a quartiles
 Box and Display variation in samples of a statistical
population at a glance
  Whisker Plot?  Identifies outliers
 How to Read a Box and Whisker Plot

50% of data is below Median 50% of data is above Median

Median

25% of data is less 25% of data is more than

than this value this value

Outliers
Inner Quartiles

Outer Quartiles

Smallest Value (excluding outliers) Greatest Value (excluding outliers)

• Provides a clear summary • Exact values are not retained

• Displays outliers • Audience data literacy

• Scales well
  Let’s Build A Box And Whisker Plot In Tableau

Demo
 Used to measure performance against the context of a
target or performance range
 What Is a Actual performance is displayed by using a bar to
visualize the magnitude of the measure
 Bullet Chart?
Targets are drawn using reference lines or Gantt bars
on a dual axis
Example of a Bullet Chart
• Shows performance vs. target • Displaying the target ranges behind
the bullet chart often confuse readers
• Displays magnitude with added
context • Audience Data Literacy

• Rich, but compact

• Bars are easy to understand

  Let’s Build a Bullet Chart In Tableau

Demo
 Bar-over-Bar plots that provide context of a target or
 What Are goal
Often used in KPI dashboards
 Context Bars?
Alternative to a bullet chart
Example of Context Bars
• Unlock context • Extra time is needed to build non-
standard charts
• Subtle but powerful

• Aids understanding
  Let’s Build Context Bars In Tableau

Demo
  Read, Build and Format
• Scatter Plot
• Connected Scatter Plot
Wrapping Up
• Box and Whisker Plot
• Bullet Chart
• Context Bars

 Concepts
• Correlation
• Distributions
• Unlocking Context
Rounding Out Your Visualization
Toolkit With Advanced Charts

Adam Crahen
HEAD OF DATA VISUALIZATION ENGINEERING | PLURALSIGHT
2018 TABLEAU ZEN MASTER
@acrahen thedataduo.com
  Chart Types
• Gantt Chart
• Barcode Chart
Overview
• Slope Chart
• Pareto Chart
• Donut Chart

Concepts
• Dual Axis
•Table Calculations
 For Each Chart Type

Learn Examples Build

What they’re used for and See some real-life examples How to create in Tableau
how to read
 A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates the
duration of events
 What Are  Horizontal bars sized by duration shown over time
 Gantt Bars?  Optionally, Gantt bars can be used to create a chart
called a strip plot (or barcode plot) used to show
distribution similar to a dot plot.
Examples of a Gantt Chart
Examples of a Gantt Chart
Examples of a Gantt Chart
Examples of a Gantt Chart
Examples of a Barcode Chart
• Great for analyzing durations or • The marks can get pretty small when
managing projects with dealing looking at data over a long
dependencies period of time.

• Data rich • Audience Data Literacy

• Handles a lot of data

 A good way to simplify change over time as long as
data could be simplified without missing a significant
part of the story
 What Is a Uses lines for each member of a dimension and
connects two different values to measure change over
 Slope Chart? time
Slope is defined as the ratio of vertical change between
points
Example of a Slope Chart
• Simplified approach to showing • Not effective when dealing with
change over time multiple points per dimension

• Extension of a line chart • Variables need to be the same for

slope to have meaning

• Audience Data Literacy

  Let’s Build Connected Scatter Plot In Tableau

Demo
 Visualizes the Pareto Principle or
80/20 Rule
 What Is a
80% of effects come from 20% of
 Pareto Chart? causes
Dual Axis Chart
 Example of a Pareto Chart

Design: Curtis Harris

• Visualizes the Pareto Principle • Complex to Build

• Quickly highlights the most • Not much actionable insight

important data
• Audience data literacy
  Let’s Build A Pareto Chart In Tableau

Demo
 Used to show a part-to-whole relationship
Shape of a donut
 What Is a
The hole makes space for more
 Donut Chart? information about the data like totals
Often used for progress to goal on
dashboards
Examples of a Donut Chart
Examples of a Donut Chart
• Pie charts are widely known • Difficult to compare the size of the
wedges
• Displays part-to-whole
relationship • Need to add up to 100%

• Limit to four slices

• The slices should be sorted

• Make good use of labeling

  Let’s Build a Donut Chart In Tableau

Demo
  Read, Build and Format
• Gantt Chart
Wrapping Up • Barcode Chart
• Slope Chart
• Pareto Chart
• Donut Chart

Concepts
• Dual Axis
• Table Calculations
Your Viz Toolkit Now Includes…

How to Read, Build, And

Format Over 35 Different
Charts
Your Viz Toolkit Now Includes…

Foundational Concepts
• Dimension vs. Measure
• Discrete vs. Continuous
• Date Part vs. Date Value
Your Viz Toolkit Now Includes…

Design Best Practices

• Basic Formatting
• Use of Language
• User Experience
• Dual Axis Capabilities
Your Viz Toolkit Now Includes…

Exposure to Calculations
• Basic
• Table
• Level of Detail
Your Viz Toolkit Now Includes…

Exposure to Statistical
Concepts
• Correlation
• Distributions
THANK YOU