If you want to increase Tableau's value to your organization, this practical book has your back. Authors Ann Jackson and Luke Stanke guide data analysts through strategies for solving real-world analytics problems using Tableau. Starting with the basics and building toward advanced topics such as multidimensional analysis and user experience, you'll explore pragmatic and creative examples that you can apply to your own data.
 

Staying competitive today requires the ability to quickly analyze and visualize data and make data-driven decisions. With this guide, data practitioners and leaders alike will learn strategies for building compelling and purposeful visualizations, dashboards, and data products. Every chapter contains the why behind the solution and the technical knowledge you need to make it work.

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  •  Use this book as a high-value on-the-job reference guide to Tableau
• •  Visualize different data types and tackle specific data challenges
• •  Create compelling data visualizations, dashboards, and data products
• •  Learn how to generate industry-specific analytics
• •  Explore categorical and quantitative analysis and comparisons
• •  Understand geospatial, dynamic, statistical, and multivariate analysis
• •  Communicate the value of the Tableau platform to your team and to stakeholders
  
  Why We Wrote This Book

We wrote this book to demystify the process of using Tableau to create data products and visualizations. In a sea of information about Tableau, we both felt there was a gap to be filled—one that outlines successful strategies for creating Tableau visualizations in any type of organization. This book is unique in that every strategy is something one or both of us has actually implemented and is accompanied by the thoughts and perspectives associated with the strategy.

Who Should Read This Book

This book is designed for anyone who is familiar with Tableau Desktop and creating charts, visualizations, and dashboards with the application. We’ve designed this book for someone who already knows how to connect to data, but is looking for inspiration and enhanced application of knowledge.

If you’re a data analyst, this book will resonate with you as it provides use cases and hands-on exercises designed from our own experiences. Each strategy is framed with stakeholder questions and context, and we take you from start to finish of how to build a visualization, why to build it, and lessons along the way.
 

If you’re an analytics leader, this book will help you navigate the myriad requests you and your team are bound to receive as you use Tableau to analyze and present data. With our strategies, you can avoid common mistakes, learn how to create the right data product for your audiences, and spend less time maintaining the products you do build.
 

If you’re a business intelligence developer or data engineer, we hope this book serves as a bridge between the technical realm of data and the more nuanced side of satisfying the business with analytics. You’ll see firsthand how the agile nature of using Tableau can provide direction on what type of data to capture, how to store it, and most importantly, how to share it.
 

Finally, if you’re new to the world of data and analytics, this book will serve as a comprehensive road map of the most common requests you’re bound to receive. This book does what no other before has done: takes real use cases and presents them in a format that any reader can learn and implement. As you delve into these chapters, know you’re reading the book we both wish we had as we started in our careers.

About the Author

Ann Jackson is founder and managing director at Jackson Two, a boutique consulting firm specializing in data analytics and visualization. In her practice, she empowers businesses to fully utilize their data assets. Ann has been recognized as a Tableau Zen Master for her proficiency with the product, her participation and leadership within the global community, and her contagious passion for data analytics.

Luke Stanke coleads an analytics consultancy firm that focuses on data visualization and advanced analytics. He’s worked for some of the largest companies. Luke has been recognized as a Tableau Zen Master multiple times for his proficiency with the product, his willingness to share knowledge, and his wish to inspire the Tableau community and solutions of tomorrow.