Category: Tableau Tip
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Down With Tadpoles, Up With Arrows | The Superiority of the Arrow Chart
So yesterday I published a blog on how to create a Tadpole Chart. And there was some great feedback and some great debate over the usability both on Twitter and on LinkedIn.
However, one tweet thread with Tableau Ambassador Christina Gorga and Data Viz Wizard Steve Wexler was particularly interesting
As much as I like the aesthetic appeal of the comet and tadpole, an arrow chart is now my first choice. The comet doesn’t work well if the two values are close together.
— Steve Wexler (@DataRevelations) October 3, 2022
After reading this, I felt somewhat foolish.
Another commenter … Read the rest
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Tadpole Charts with Nicely Placed Labels in Tableau
I’m indifferent to amphibians, but I do like tadpole charts. In this blog, I’m going to show you the steps to create one with a little trick around labelling that may be useful in making this chart – but also for other charts in Tableau.
Table of Contents
This ones a bit involved, so here’s a table of contents:
- What Exactly is a Tadpole Chart?
- Step 1: Create a Dot Plot of Profits by Product Sub-Category
- Step 2: Connect the Dots!
- Step 3: Creating the Tadpoles
- Step 4: Emphasising Difference Through Use of Colour
- Step 5: Nice Labels For
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How to build and interpret an index chart using Tableau
The index chart is a chart type that often comes in extremely useful for analysing the change in time series data.
You’ve probably seen these charts frequently used in finance – such as tracking a financial index like the S&P500. Here’s an example pulled from Statista looking at US Stock Indices since the start of 2022.
Notice how all series start at the same point, and the chart plots the relative change in each series over time. We can immediately see that NASDAQ has performed relatively poorer than the Dow Jones and S&P 500 during this period.
As you might … Read the rest
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Using a parameter to filter for specific records in a Tableau dashboard or worksheet
Filters are great and all, but I genuinely love Tableau parameters.
One technique that I frequently use for certain dashboard designs is using a parameter as the
primary method of interaction. That is, I use parameters to take input from users, which primarily drives the data viewed on screen. The parameter filters worksheets and shows related information about that input, acting much like a database record selection action or a filter in an Excel spreadsheet column.For example, say you have a dashboard filled with customer activity for a large retailer. The dashboard might show overall sales per customer, … Read the rest