This document outlines five things the author wishes they knew when first starting to use Tableau. It discusses: 1) the different Tableau license types and their uses, 2) the importance of properly shaping data before analyzing in Tableau, 3) the difference between dimensions and measures, 4) the difference between discrete and continuous fields, and 5) introduces some corporate-focused chart types like sparklines, small multiples, and bullet graphs. The document is presented by Ryan Sleeper from Evolytics to help others learn from his experience using Tableau.

1. Five Things I Wish I Knew the
First Day I Used Tableau
Presented by:
Ryan Sleeper
Director, Data Visualization
Evolytics

2. What to Expect
• Introduction
• Purpose
• Audience
• Five Things
• Q&A
2

3. 3
Ryan Sleeper
Director, Data Visualization
Evolytics

4. 4
My Learning Curve

5. 5
If I had only known…

6. 1. Tableau Licenses

7. Tableau Licenses
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Which Tableau license is best for me?
(and why is this so confusing?!)
Your choice depends on:
(1) Connectivity
(2) Distribution
(3) Automation
(4) Security

8. Tableau Public
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Connectivity
• TDE, Access, Excel, Text File
Distribution
• Cloud
Automation
• Not available
Security
• None – your data is accessible by anyone on the Internet
Price: Free

9. Tableau Public
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Best for
• Journalists
• Sharing publicly available data (and Tableau know-how) with
the world
• Practicing Tableau for free
• Trying the software

10. Tableau Desktop: Personal
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Connectivity
• TDE, Access, Excel, Text File
Distribution
• Offline or Tableau Public
Automation
• Not available
Security
• As good as your personal computer / server’s security
Price: $1000 for year one; $200 for year two+

11. Tableau Desktop: Personal
Best for
• Those that only need to connect to flat data files
• Those that need the most cost-effective version that will keep
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their data private

12. Tableau Desktop: Professional
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Connectivity
• All possible connections in Tableau
Distribution
• Offline, Tableau Server, or Tableau Public (all possible
distribution options in Tableau)
Automation
• Not available
Security
• As good as your personal computer / server’s security
Price: $2000 for year one; $400 for year two+

13. Tableau Desktop: Professional
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Best for
• Those that need to connect to data in databases
• Those that need the capability to publish to Tableau Server

14. Tableau Server (Interactor)
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Connectivity
• Workbooks that have been published to Tableau Server and
that you have been granted access to
Distribution
• Tableau Server (cloud)
Automation
• Available on schedules or intervals
Security
• As good as your hosting provider’s
Price: $1000 for year one; $200 for year two+; 10 license minimum

15. Tableau Server (Interactor)
Best for
• Those that need to access / distribute workbooks in the cloud
• Those that want to automate workbook refreshes
• Those that want to edit workbooks in the cloud (limited
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capability)

16. 2. Shaping Data

17. Shaping Data
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Common Data Layout
Sweet Excel Table
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Sales $ $ $ $ $$$
Profit $ $ $ $ $$$
Orders # # # # ###

18. Shaping Data
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Ideal Data Layout
Quarter Sales Profit Orders
Q1 $ $ #
Q2 $ $ #
Q3 $ $ #
Q4 $ $ #
Google: “Preparing Excel Files for Analysis”

19. Shaping Data
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Ideal Data Layout
Date Quarter Sales Profit Orders
1/1/2014 Q1 $ $ #
4/1/2014 Q2 $ $ #
7/1/2014 Q3 $ $ #
10/1/2014 Q4 $ $ #
Google: “Preparing Excel Files for Analysis”

20. 3. Dimension vs. Measure

21. Dimension vs. Measure
Measure:
A measure is a field that is a dependent variable; that is,
its value is a function of one or more dimensions.
Tableau treats any field containing numeric (quantitative)
information as a measure.
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Sales
Source: Tableau Knowledge Base

22. Dimension vs. Measure
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Dimension:
A dimension is a field that can be considered an
independent variable.
By default, Tableau treats any field containing qualitative,
categorical information as a dimension.
Sales
Source: Tableau Knowledge Base

23. 4. Discrete vs. Continuous

24. Discrete vs. Continuous
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25. Discrete vs. Continuous
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Discrete draws headers.
Continuous draws axes.

26. Discrete vs. Continuous
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Sales by Month: Discrete

27. Discrete vs. Continuous
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Sales by Month: Continuous

28. 5. Corporate Chart Types

29. Sparklines
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30. Small Multiples
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31. Bullet Graphs
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32. Thank You and Q&A
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Slides:
Evolytics.com/5Things
Resources:
Evolytics.com/Tableau201
Google: “Tableau 201”
Ryan Sleeper
@OSMGuy
rsleeper@evolytics.com