Tableau Data Visualisation: A Complete Guide

If not interpreted correctly, Data –the most important resource of modern organisations can turn out to be quite  irrelevant during Business Analysis. This is where Tableau steps in. Tableau Data Visualisation makes it a piece of cake to format data in numerous ways and make the most out of it. Want to know how? This blog will help you with all you need to know about Tableau Data Visualisation, including its advantages and disadvantages, its importance and the different visualisations it provides. 

Table of Contents 

1) What is Tableau Data Visualisation? 

2) Features of Tableau

3) Tableau Lifecycle

4) Advantages of Data Visualisation in Tableau

5) Why is Tableau Data Visualisation important? 

6) Installation of Tableau Data Visualisation 

7) What are the Different Types of Data Visualisations? 

8) Conclusion 

What is Tableau Data Visualisation? 

Tableau Data Visualisation refers to the use of visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps to represent data, making it easier to understand trends, patterns, and anomalies. Tableau's software offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that simplifies complex data into meaningful visuals, enabling even non-technical users to interpret insights. Its interactive features, including real-time updates, allow for in-depth data exploration. 

Tableau enhances data-driven decision-making across sectors with various Visualisation options, such as Heat Maps and Scatter Plots. By transforming raw data into engaging visual stories, Tableau ensures that users can present information effectively and support informed decisions clearly and compellingly.

Features of Tableau  

Tableau comes with a variety of features; some of these features include: 

a) Drag and Drop Interface: Effortlessly create Visualisations and reports in Tableau without coding or technical expertise.

b) Data Blending: Seamlessly combine data from multiple sources to comprehensively view your information.

c) Real-time Analytics: Analyse data as it updates with Tableau’s real-time analytics capabilities, ensuring up-to-date insights.

d) Interactive Dashboards: Explore data and uncover insights through Tableau’s dynamic, interactive dashboards.

e) Collaboration: Share your work and collaborate easily with others using Tableau’s built-in collaboration features.

f) Mobile Accessibility: With Tableau's full mobile support, you can access your data and Visualisations on the go anytime, anywhere.

Tableau Lifecycle  

The Tableau lifecycle refers to the end-to-end process of creating, managing, and delivering data Visualisations using Tableau software. It typically consists of the following stages:

a) Data Preparation: In Tableau, data preparation involves cleaning and transforming data into a format ready for analysis and Visualisation. The data can come from various sources, such as Excel or database tables.

b) Visualisation Design: This stage focuses on selecting appropriate chart types and configuring the appearance and layout to present the data effectively.

c) Development: Visualisations are created using Tableau software (e.g., Tableau Desktop or Tableau Cloud). This includes building multiple views or dashboards with interactive features and data filtering options.

d) Testing: Once created, Visualisations undergo thorough testing to ensure accuracy, reliability, and ease of use. Simulations or test data are often used to verify performance.

e) Deployment: In the final stage, Visualisations are shared with the target audience, either by publishing to a Tableau server or web platform or distributing via email or printed reports.

Advantages of Data Visualisation in Tableau

Some of the many advantages that Data Visualisation with Tableau provides include the following:

1) It is intuitive: Many people find visuals much easier to comprehend than numbers or words. This means that people find Tableau Data Visualisations much more intuitive than any other method of representing data.   

2) It facilitates simple data sharing: As data in it is visual form  is easier to understand, it naturally leads to better analysis. This is because people can readily comprehend and draw conclusions from visualisations. Tableau makes it Visualisation is easy to use if you want to identify patterns, trends and outliers, which can help you analyse the data to make meaningful conclusions.   

3) It facilitates better analysis: As Data Visualisation is easier to understand, it naturally leads to better analysis. This is because people are readily able to comprehend and draw conclusions from visualisations. It is easy to use a visualisation if you want to identify patterns, trends and outliers, which can help when you are analysing the data to make meaningful conclusions.  

4) It offers interactive Data Visualisation: Tableau serves visual storytelling's purpose, making it easier for organisations to make better-informed decisions. It easily shares information, interactively explores opportunities and visualises patterns and relationships. This helps an organisation gain better insight into their data resources, which in turn helps them operate more efficiently and generate better revenue.   

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Why is Tableau Data Visualisation important? 

Technological developments in the modern world have enhanced the importance of Data Visualisation. Data Visualisation helps people analyse, interact with and understand data better. Whether simple or complex, the right Data Visualisation can help streamline working processes by bringing everyone on the same page – regardless of how experienced they are.  

There are a lot of reasons why businesses adopt Data Visualisation, a few of which are listed as follows: 

1) Visualisation helps individuals and organisations gain a clearer understanding and better insights into a topic. 

2) Visualisation helps individuals, and organisations predict the future quickly and make better-informed decisions.   

3) Visualisation of data facilitates the convenient and efficient interpretation of data in large volumes. 

4) Data Visualisation is known to convey information universally. 

5) Data Visualisation makes it simpler to share one’s ideas with other individuals during the working process in an organisation. 

6) Data Visualisation lets the concerned individuals know where they can adjust or make changes to their business working process for better results. 

7) Data Visualisation provides scalability or the ability of a computing process to be used or produced in a range of capacities. Scalability refers to a computer application's ability to continue functioning at an optimum level even when the contextual data is altered in size or volume. 

8) Data Visualisation makes interpretation easy for individuals in an organisation to track and identify trends and patterns and work on them accordingly.   

It is difficult to think of any professional industry that is not positively impacted by data being made more understandable with the help of Data Visualisation. Almost every field benefits from a proper understanding of its data resources, including – government, finance, marketing and the history of consumer goods, service industries, education and sports. The practical, real-life application of Data Visualisation is undeniable, and visualising data in the proper context is one of the most useful professional skills one could develop.   

The better one can convey their points visually – whether on a dashboard or a slide deck – the better their career in Data Analysis. As people rapidly update their skill sets to excel in an evolving data-driven world, it is increasingly valuable for professionals to know how to use data to make well-informed decisions. They can use visuals to explain the who, what, when, where, and how's. Data visualisation bridges the gap between traditional and visual learning.   

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Installation of Tableau Data Visualisation

Depending on your chosen product, install the software on your computer. Once you agree to the license terms displayed, you can then confirm the installation by clicking on the Tableau Icon. Once the specified screen appears, you are ready to proceed. Here are the further steps involved:

a) You can then initiate the installation of Tableau Data Visualisation, by selecting the appropriate product based on your requirements and preferences. 

b) Download the software onto your computer and proceed to install it. During installation, carefully review and accept the license agreement. 

c) After completing the installation, verify its success by clicking on the Tableau Icon. A confirmation screen should appear, indicating that the installation was successful, allowing you to proceed with utilising Tableau for powerful and insightful Data Visualisation. 

This streamlined process ensures a seamless setup, enabling users to harness the full capabilities of Tableau for effective data analysis.

What are the different types of Data Visualisations?

Whenever one thinks of Data Visualisation, their first thought is likely to be a simple bar graph or a pie chart. While these may be an important part of Data Visualisation and a common ground for many data graphics, the right visualisation should always be paired with the appropriate information set. A whole set of visualisation methods can be used to present data effectively and interestingly. You can use the following types of infographics to present your data: 

1) Chart: A chart refers to information presented in a tabular and graphical form with data displayed along two axes. A chart can be in the form of a graph, diagram or map.   

2) Table: A table can be defined as a set of figures that are displayed in rows and columns. 

3) Graph: A graph is a diagram of points, segments, lines, curves or areas that are used to represent certain variables in comparison to each other. The information is visually represented – usually along two axes at a right angle.  

4) Dashboards: A dashboard can be defined as a collection of visualisations and data displayed in one place, which usually helps with analysing and presenting data. 

5) Geospatial: Geospatial is a visualisation that shows data in a mapped form using various shapes and colours to show the relationship or correlation between different pieces of data and specific locations. 

6) Area Map: An area map is a form of geospatial visualisation. Area maps usually represent specific values set over a map of a country, state or other geographic location. Two of the most common types of area maps are choropleths and isopleths. 

7) Bar Chart: A bar chart represents numerical values compared to each other. The length of the bar in the bar chart represents the value of each variable.   

8) Box-and-whisker Plots: A box-and-whisker plot represents a selection of ranges (referred to as the box) across a set measure (referred to as the bar). 

9) Bullet Graph: A bullet graph can be defined as a graph that features a bar marked against a background. The bullet graph represents progress or performance when compared against objectives, usually denoted by a line on the graph. 

10) Gantt Chart: A Gantt chart is typically used in Project Management. Gantt charts can be defined as bar chart depictions of timelines and tasks.   

11) Heat Map: A heat map can be defined as a type of geospatial visualisation mapped in a form that displays specific data values in different colours. 

12) Highlight Table: A highlight table is a form of table that uses colours to categorise similar data. This allows the viewer to read it with better ease and intuition. 

13) Histogram: A histogram is a type of bar chart that splits a continuous measure into different bins. Splitting the continuous measure helps analyse the distribution. 

14) Pie Chart: A pie chart is a circular chart with triangular segments representing data as a percentage of a whole.   

15) Tree Map: A tree map represents different and related values in rectangles nested together.    

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Conclusion 

As the age of Big Data progresses, visualisation is an increasingly used key tool to interpret trillions of data produced each day correctly. Tableau Data Visualisation helps tell stories by curating the data into a simpler form, making it easier to understand and identify trends and outliers. A well-made visualisation helps tell a story, as it removes the additional, unnecessary noise from raw data and highlights the information that can be used for profit.   

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