SEATTLE Tableau USER GROUPExcel to Data Visualization

ABOUT US

@russellspangler

russellspangler@gmail.com

www.linkedin.com/in/russellspangler/

RUSSELL SPANGLERIntelligence Analyst @ Amazon

• 6 Years of Tableau Server & Desktop experience

• 100K+ Views on Tableau public

• Winner of 2016 Iron Viz “Food Fight” Competition

http://public.tableau.com/profile/russell.spangler

@DanRMonty

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danrmonty

DAN MONTGOMERYBI Engineer @ Amazon Video

• 6 Years of Tableau Server & Desktop experience

• Tableau 8 Desktop Certified Professional

• Amazon Tableau User Group Leader

• Tableau Visual Analytics Applications Certificate

Instructor (University of Washington)

http://public.tableau.com/profile/dan.montgomery

OBJECTIVES

Excel vs. Tableau

Starting Out With Tableau

Overcoming data OBSTACLES

Design Tips

Measuring Success

REAL WORLD EXAMPLES

WHAT IS EXCEL

• Basic charts and graphs

• Limited modern visuals

• Dashboards require tabs

with data

VISUALS

• Functions / formulas

• Visual Basic for Applications

(VBA)

PROGRAMMING

• Spreadsheet focused

• Typical columns & rows

• Not a true BI reporting tool

Software

• Pivot tables & charts

• Custom formulas

• Macros

DATA MINING

• Compatibility with other

Microsoft solutions

• Packaged with Microsoft

Office

EXTRAS

• Copy & paste directly

• Data connections (ODBC)

• Query builder

DATA

WHAT IS TABLEAU

• Better charts and graphs

• Advance visuals

• Requires data to be

structured

VISUALS

• Calculated Measures

• Custom data connections

• Command line server

administration and automation

PROGRAMMING

• Data visualization tool

• Server product provides a

centralized reporting portal

Software

• R integration

• Basic forecasting

DATA MINING

• Interactive

• Allows discovery

Extras

• Copy & paste

• Live connection

• Extract (fast snapshot /

refreshable)

• Predefined data connections

DATA

EXCEL VS TABLEAU

• Intuitive Interface

• Central Reporting Portal

• Delivery Options

• Data Sources & R

• Development speed and report speed

POSITIVES

• Initial Cost

• Cannot Edit Data in Cells

• Data Prep Time

• Cost of Server for Self Service Reporting

NEGATIVES

• Popularity

• Familiarity

• Low Cost

• Compatibility with Microsoft Products

Positives

• Maintenance

• Dated Design

• No Report Portal

• Compatibility with Non-Microsoft Products

NEGATIVES

EXCEL TABLEAU

• Editable Formulas

• Manipulation of Cells

• Editable Data

• Trouble w “Big Data”

• VBA & Macros

• Distribution Options

Note: Excel is not Tableau and Tableau is not Excel. If you are replacing Excel don’t try

and design the same Excel style reports in Tableau.

• Command Line

• Modern Visuals

• Interactivity

• Community

LEVERAGING TABLEAU

Locate problems with current reports and use Tableau to solve issues

• Missing KPIs

• KPIs that are difficult to create

• Reports that people don’t like

• Reports that are known to be incorrect or delivered inconsistently

Leverage Tableau’s strong points

• Self service analytics & discovery

• Eliminate dependency of developers

• Development speed

Tip: What works for one person/company might not work for you

EXCEL REPORTS

Use business specific questions to test the “quality” of your report

• Which Product has the high revenue for the year?

• What is the top product for each month?

• What is the difference performing products compared to the lower performing

products?

• Which product month combination has the lowest revenue for the year?

TABLEAU REPORTS

Ask yourself the same questions with

new visuals

If its quicker and easier to understand then

you probably created a better visual

If not, maybe consider your design choices

and rethink your visuals

WAKE UP CALL

The Test

• Display a current report and ask questions regarding the data

• Time how long it takes for people to answer

• Display a newly designed report and ask similar questions regarding the data

• Time the results & compare

Time to insight

• The time it take end users to answer their questions

• The value of time of end users and the reduction of time your reports can provide

• 1 report reduces 15 minutes of work for 20 end users each week = savings of 5 hrs/wk or 260

hrs/yr

• The higher up the end user is in the organization normally equates for the need for faster

insights

Tip: Reach the “AHA” moment when people realize current reports might not be the best

11 11

STARTING OUT

Determine the data you want to focus on by understanding the intended use and audience for the visualization. Locate the

data you need and structure the data to be used within Tableau.

DATA

Design using best practices with the needs of your organization. Leverage common charts and aim to provide a useful

design for end users. Don’t be afraid to revisit a design or try different ideas.

DESIGN

Review your final design to confirm it provides meaningful information. Deliver your report to the end users via various

methods (packaged workbook, published to server, or export to PDF). Track report usage and views.

FINALIZE

Note: Building a report is an iterative process

THE DATA ICEBERG

Visible Areas

• Charts & Graphs

• Tableau Workbooks

• Structured Datasets

• Tangible End Results

Note: The Awesome Part of Data Visualization

Non-Visible Areas

• Data Hygiene

• Data Management

• ETL

• Structuring Data

• Database Design & Management

• Organizing & Locating Data Sources

• Non-Tangible “Non-IT” End Results

Note: Non-Glorious Part of Data Visualization

DATA TIPS

Defining the data in the correct format will help prevent problems

• Avoid summarized/aggregated data

Totals/Grand Totals can be calculated

Un-aggregated provides maximum flexibility

• Remove empty rows and columns

• Short but informative column headers/names

• Rename/remove duplicate header names

• Make sure your data is correctly delimited

• Structuring / Reshaping data into a “row-centric” / vertical structure

• Review your data and review Tableau’s assignment of Dimension or

Measure values to your data

• Use random numbers to mock data up (RandomNumber & Rand in Excel)

Tip: Gather reporting requirements to streamline your data efforts

http://kb.tableau.com/articles/knowledgebase/preparing-excel-files-analysis

HOW TO ACHIEVE OUR GOAL

Tableau’s Excel Add-In.

Free to download and usable

within Excel.

TABLEAU ADD-IN

Excel

Transpose Command.

Good for limited amounts of

data. Only takes a few

mouse clicks to transpose

data.

TRANSPOSE

Excel

Tableau Data Source Screen.

Takes processing time for a lot

of data. Similar functionality of

the Excel add-in.

DATA SOURCE

Tableau

http://kb.tableausoftware.com/articles/knowledgebase/addin-reshaping-data-excel

Database Programming.

Pivot will rotate rows to

columns and Unpivot will

rotate columns to rows.

Requires SQL code.

PIVOT & UNPIVOT

SQL

HOW DOES TABLEAU READ THE DATA

ORIGINAL RESHAPED

DESIGN PROCESS

Sketching or Wire Framing.

Recommended to help reduce

getting stuck during the

building process. Understand

the focus/goal of the report.

SKETCH & FOCUS

Connect to Data and Build.

Review your data before

building.

DEVELOPMENT

Revisit and Tweak.

Use end-user feedback to help

finalize your design. Make sure

your end-users are happy with

the report.

FEEDBACK

Review Your Creation.

Does your design make it

easy to answer the questions

you are trying to solve?

REVIEW

Tip: During development build the more difficult visuals first to confirm your data structure

Ask the end-user(s) questions to determine the focus• What are the most important pieces of data?

• What do you hope this report will achieve or answer?

• What is the goal of this visualization?

• Who is the attended audience for the visualization?

• How granular should the data be?

• How often does the data need to be updated?

• What “story” do we want to tell?

Tip: Ask for current examples of any reports/dashboards, this helps show before & after

improvements but avoid recreating the current report

CREATE FOCUS

PreATTENTIVE ATTRIBUTES

https://www.google.com/search?q=preattentive+data+visualization&source=lnms&tbm=isch

http://stevensanne.com/data-viz-in-6-weeks-wk-3-perception-cognition/

http://blog.fusioncharts.com/2014/03/how-we-decode-visual-information-podv/

PreATTENTIVE ATTRIBUTES

Preattentive attributes to help create focus on the important pieces

• Use attributes to focus attention within your design

• Combine multiple attributes to enforce focus

• Color & Shapes (Red down arrow)

• Length & Color (Highest value bar with a bright color)

Leverage best practices but also be creative

• Some attributes are more difficult for people to interpret

pie charts, donut charts, radial graphics are usually more difficult to

understand than a simpler bar chart

Tip: Eliminate unnecessary clutter, unreasonable amount of colors, and unreadable text

PreATTENTIVE ATTRIBUTE TEST

How Many 5’s?

PreATTENTIVE ATTRIBUTE TEST

How Many 5’s?

(Time to Insight)

DESIGN TIPS

Aim for a clean, concise, and meaningful design

• Eliminate items that do not add value

• Remove pieces to test their value to the overall impact of the design

• Avoid conflicting text and chart colors

• Use gray text vs. black text

Maximize Space

• Use transparency to overlap multiple chart styles

• Leverage dual axis to provide additional details in the same space

• Provide intuitive filters & parameters

Note: Don’t over complicate your design, your design should need minimum instructions in order

to comprehend it

BAR CHART DESIGN

23

The Data:Use RANDBETWEEN

and RAND in Excel to

create mock data

(Generates randomly

every time you make a

change)

BAR CHART DESIGN

24

Standard

Tableau Bar

Chart

BAR CHART DESIGN

25

Tip: Add a

space before

the number

Synchronize axis

Tip: Use Transparency

to overlap charts

Dual axis

BAR CHART DESIGN

26

Remove axis

labels (numbers

provide details)

Remove borders

to provide a

more stylish

chart

Sort Values

Descending

Use reference lines to

add additional details on

the same chart

(Averages, Goals, etc.)

BAR CHART DESIGN

27

CHART EXAMPLES

28

YOUR FIRST REPORT

Leverage Tableau’s strengths

• Keep it Simple: basic chart types (lines & bars) with a high level of execution

• Design: Make it look great (at least better than Excel)

• Color: Use a modern but simple color palette

• Create Interactivity: Use dashboard actions

• Make it Meaningful: Focus on the end user and goals

• Build Trust: double check your data & numbers

The 30* second test

• Dashboards should be clear and easy to understand (if you don’t know what

you are looking at within 30 seconds, the design could be too complicated)

• *Exact timing target varies

MEASURE SUCCESS

Listen to your audience

• Listen for criticism and feedback

• Tracks active users, number of views, and number of license owners

• Remember when reports are used in meetings or to solve questions (without

additional assistance)

• Calculate development time savings and savings from ad-hoc requests

Tip: You can leverage

the backend

PostgreSQL database

to create custom

reports on server

performance & usage

BUILDING A CULTURE

Create a positive environment for data visualization growth

• Be a resource for internal tableau support

• Host open office hours and training sessions

• Encourage training and additional educational opportunities

Support growth in

• Data modeling & structure

• SQL

• Data visualization best practices

• Graphical design

• Data analytics

• Journalism

Tip: Spend time each week and visit a few websites & blogs

AMAZON

Departments using Tableau that aren’t known to be analytical departments

Areas of interest

• Self-service reporting

• Real-time reports

• Remove dependency from developers or data engineers

• Centralized reporting portals

• Ability to handle large amounts of data and variety of data sources

• Compatibility with AWS products

• Development speed / rapid prototypes

• Intuitive features for users

• Automation capability

• Interactive reports / data discovery

AMAZON

Hurdles to overcome for most departments

• Internal tool usage

• Legacy products and legacy reports

• Cultural change for better data visualization practices

• Cost

• Large scale data management

• Security

• Trust in the data and the new product / source

• Sharing reports with additional departments

• Coding for automation

AMAZON

Cultural Changes

• Increased participation within the internal Amazon user group

• Requests for open office hours & meetings with experienced Tableau

developers

• New departments evaluating Tableau

• Active group conversations about how to do something in Tableau

• Excitement of new reports and analytical possibilities with Tableau

• Replacement of the dreaded “grid of numbers” spreadsheets

• Analyst can dig more into the data because of faster development speeds and

the ability to create visuals faster

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Enterprise Deployments

http://www.tableau.com/drive

Modern Approach Enterprise Analytics

http://www.tableau.com/community/events/modern-approach-enterprise-analytics

Tableau Public Authors, Gallery, and Viz of the Day

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

Tableau Help Resources (Quick Start, Videos, and Forums)

http://www.tableau.com/learn

http://www.tableau.com/support/manuals/quickstart

Tableau Forums & User Groups

https://community.tableau.com/community/forums

https://community.tableau.com/community/groups

36

ThankS!