This document discusses how dashboards can be used to provide interactive views of key metrics and indicators from spatial data in a way that is easy for users to understand quickly, without having to navigate extensive GIS systems. It provides examples of dashboards created with Tableau to visualize student enrollment data and land use change over time. Contact information is given for the author to discuss any questions.

1. Using Dashboards to
Understand Spatial Data
John Reiser
Rowan University

2. Giving it all isn’t always helpful.
Your users don’t want to use GIS to understand
your data. They don’t want to drink from the fire
hose.

3. Dashboards
An interactive
view into key
indicators and
metrics your
audience needs
to understand
quickly.

7. Tab
http://public.tableau.com/
Tableau Public
Data
Fields

8. Rowan University
Student Enrollment
http://www.rowan.edu/president/ierp/dashboards/

11. 2012 Land Use
http://njgeo.org/2015/04/10/using-tableau-to-visualize-land-use-change/

14. https://github.com/johnjreiser/NJToolbox/tree/master/landuse
Code Available
on Github
Instructions on how to modify
the Land Use data to prepare
it for use in a tool like Tableau.
Feel free to adapt and use for
your own purposes.

15. Feel free to contact me:
● jreiser@njgeo.org / reiser@rowan.edu
● @johnjreiser on Twitter, Github, others
● 856 256-5117 (work)
● 856 347-0047 (cell)
● http://njgeo.org/
Thank you for listening!
Discussion