Level of detail (LOD) is a feature that was introduced in Tableau Desktop v9. While it offers a great amount of flexibility and control over how you use the data in your visualization, it can be a bit tricky to fully understand. We teach level of...
In our last guideline, we’ll revisit another tip on how your dashboard’s layout can impact performance: "Fix dashboard size relative to end-user consumption. Automatic sizing is less efficient than specifying dashboard size." It’s not all about size … though I’ve heard it’s mightily important. Automatic Sizing There is a...
A common question that comes up trainings is: ”What does the small grey bar within the quick filter box represent?” Using quick filters is one of the easiest ways to provide end users with the ability to control what they want to see. Although they are quick, they...
We are onto our last category of the Tableau Performance Checklist, Dashboard Layout. For our next guideline: "Limit the number of worksheets on a dashboard. If you have more than four visualizations on a dashboard, strongly reconsider." Let’s begin! Dashboarding or Dash-boring The allure of putting as much information on...
Averages are great. They take up very little space to report, everybody wants them and we all understand exactly what an average is … or do we? An average as we typically think of it is what we call the mean in statistics. To find...
A common question that comes up in trainings is: “How do ZIP codes work in Tableau? Do I need to add in leading zeros, or can I leave them out?” As geographic fields become increasingly available in the field of analytics, aggregating customer information to ZIP code level...
It’s been a while since I wrote in this series, but I was recently conducting a training and was asked a question that I have never been asked. I’m sure it comes up regularly, but I never came across it. I was asked: “Tableau makes the week...
Here’s the second item under Local Computations: "Table calculations are powerful, but they can be slow. They are dependent on the local computation engine and can require substantial memory." Let’s get started. Table Calculations Table calculations are computations that use the values in the entire table and can restructure...
Here’s the first guideline from the Local Computations category: "Even if a workbook is published to Tableau Server, local computations still impact performance. Leverage the power of Tableau Server whenever possible by limiting local computations such as groups, hierarchies, reference lines, table calculations and blending." Let’s get...
With built-in Tableau integration, using maps couldn't be easier! Occasionally, however, we want to get creative and display more information within the map. Recently, I was asked, "When I have a parameter to choose which measure I want to view, how can I display a different color...
Who doesn’t love efficiency? We are finishing up with the rendering category today by returning to custom shapes. Let’s get started: "If using custom shapes, use transparent background PNGs instead of JPGs. Views will render cleaner, and shape files will take up less space." Didn’t know we’d get...
Some of my favorite mobile apps like Slack, Feedly and Google Maps have a slide-out menu that appears when I tap a small icon. That common design element makes plenty of room for user inputs and gets them out of the way when you’re done...
About a week ago, I shared a blog post that demonstrated a new way to visualize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Tableau. This week, using the same viz, I’ll show how to set up single-click hierarchy navigation. The Challenge Those of us familiar with Pivot Tables in...
Tableau Reader is a free-to-download tool that allows you to view packaged workbooks with full interactivity. It’s available for both PC and Mac users. Some organizations use Tableau Reader far more than they should while others might benefit by adding it to their options for...
Parameters are one of the most loved features of Tableau. You can use them in calculations, across multiple datasources, in titles and labels, and in countless other ways. Unfortunately, they are static. Unlike filters, parameters are a set list of values. You can build them based off...
Key Performance Indicators are one of the most common things people need to display in a dashboard. This usually involves comparing current values or historical trends against a target value. Tableau makes it easy to show current values and trends in one dashboard, but this...
Let’s take a look at our next guideline from the Rendering category: "Minimize the file size of any images or custom shapes where possible. As a general rule of thumb, keep images under 50kb." Let’s get started, shall we? Images & Custom Shapes In regards to rendering, images and...
A common question that often comes up in trainings is: “How can I add conditional formatting to my visualizations?” Conditional formatting can be a useful way to call attention to textual data. Common cases of conditional formatting involve using Color or Symbols (That’s symbols for all...
A common question that often comes up in trainings is: “How do I utilize the Pivot feature in Tableau to make building charts easier?” What does it mean to pivot data? A pivot is a transformation of data structure from a wide view (many columns) to a...
A common question that often comes up in trainings is: “How do I add gaps between the bars of my visualizations?” The first thing to know is whether or not your graph should have spaces between the bars or not. If you are trying to visualize ordered...
Interworks GmbH
Ratinger Straße 9
40213 Düsseldorf
Germany
Geschäftsführer: Mel Stephenson
Kontaktaufnahme: markus@interworks.eu
Telefon: +49 (0)211 5408 5301
Amtsgericht Düsseldorf HRB 79752
UstldNr: DE 313 353 072
