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This repository contains the materials for the Tableau Fundamentals workshop.
Check out D-Lab’s Workshop Catalog to browse all workshops, see what’s running now, and review prerequisites.
After this workshop, you will be able to:
- Import data into Tableau Public
- Create a series of basic visualizations including bar charts and heat maps
- Connect two visualizations into a dashboard
- Considering publishing open data
This workshop does not cover the following:
- Python connectivity
- In-depth design
Signup for a Tableau Public Account (link to create an account)
Check out the following resources to learn more about [Workshop topics]:
- Vizualization fo the Day - examples of vizualizations using Tableau
- Data & Statistics guide with UC Berkeley Library
- UC Berkeley Library's guide to data vizualization
D-Lab and UC Berkeley Library works with Berkeley faculty, research staff, and students to advance data-intensive social science and humanities research. Our goal at D-Lab is to provide practical training, staff support, resources, and space to enable you to use R for your own research applications. Our services cater to all skill levels and no programming, statistical, or computer science backgrounds are necessary. We offer these services in the form of workshops, one-to-one consulting, and working groups that cover a variety of research topics, digital tools, and programming languages.
Visit the D-Lab homepage to learn more about us. You can view our calendar for upcoming events, learn about how to utilize our consulting and data services, and check out upcoming workshops.
Bee Lehman, Ph.D. (Literatures and Digital Humanities Librarian)
##The End Goal
The end goal of the session is to be able to create a basic Tableau dashboard. Here is an example of a professional dashboard:
Example: Tobiloba Babajide, “Datafrik Hotel Dashboard,” Tableau Public, January 6, 2025, https://public.tableau.com.
Example: Lilla Rasztik, “The Character Network of Star Wars,” Tableau Public, August 6, 2024, https://public.tableau.com.
##To get There: Start by: Identifying Goals
Thinking about tabular, structured Data
- What is dataset
- Picking a dataset
- Setting up columns and rows
SAVE THE ORIGINAL
- work with a copy
Using your preferred program:
- Name your file something identifiable
- Name your tabs (but easier with single sheet instead of full book)
- Label your columns
Let's take a look at the census data.
What kind of visualizations do we want?
Let's upload the data and get it set up for use.
Look at the upper left hand corner of the Tableau Public window. Select the data tab and opt to import data. In Tableau public, there are limited data types you can import. In the professional version, there are significantly more tie-ins for data.
Once you've imported your data, look at the right screen panels and tell Tableau how you want the program to understand your data. You can, for example, tell Tableau that your dates are temporal data and that your geographic columns--including cities, counties, and countries--are geographic data.
Screenshot of Tableau Public data screen with data type drop down menu active
Now that we're added our data, let's create our first visualization by going to "Sheet 1."
The link for sheet one as well as adding additional sheets is located in the bottom, left hand corner of the Tableau window.
Let's start by creating a Text Table (displays tabular data).
- From your list of types on the left, drag your Year data into column
- Drag your Group into row
- Drag "population count" under the "Marks" box into "Text."
Tableau will automatically aggregate measures (the quantitative data we pulled into "Text"), allowing for rapid summaries of the larger datasheets you uploaded. And, text tables can be phenomenal ways to highlight specific, precise numbers without being overwhelming.
We know have our first visualization.
Tableau automatically divides data into measures (quantitative data) and dimensions (qualitative data) as we saw above with a focus on measures. They also divide data into discrete and continuous.
Take a look at your list of column headers on the left hand side of the screen. The data list should be in blue and green, denoting discrete (blue) and continuous (green) data. Establishing that your data is discrete or continuous allows you to determine visualization types and connections between your data. Years, for example, can be viewed as segments of time or dates that flow from one to the next.
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As you can see from the chart and graph above, the distinction permits different kinds of visualizations. To build a bar chart with our data, we can
- Drag Year to Columns
- Drag Population Count to Rows
- Drag Group to Marks (color)
- Makes sure "Bar chart" is selected under the "Marks" drop down list.
Visualizations are about communication. To ensure that your visualizations communicate what you want them to, think about placement, sizes, and color choices after you've decided on the type of visualization.
Colors Color choices are incredibly important in visualizations. First and foremost, you want your colors to contrast or blend in order to convey meaning. Second, you should also think about the cultural implications of different color choices. Red, for example, is viewed as a "happy" color for most of the world and as an "angry" color in some, specific communities. White, in contrast, can mean both death or purity.
Filters Sometimes we are working from an enormous data set and we don't want every visualization to show all of your data. Showing population growth once a decade, for example, might suffice when looking at a century. To limit our data, we can "filter" it by dragging our data categories into the "filter" box above "marks."
One of my favorite visualization types are maps. To create a map in Tableau, add geographic data directly into the Sheet, largest first. If in the United States:
- Country
- State
- County
- City
To turn your map into a heat map, you can drag measures into your colors. If you want prefer a point map, then you can draw them into categories like labels.
At this point, you should have
- a textual chart
- a bar chart or line graph
- a map of Bay Area counties showing population density or otherwise
Look at the bottom, left hand corner of your Tableau window and click the icon for adding a dashboard (it looks like a four-quadrant square).
- Drag Sheets into Dashboard
- Organize your sheets and filters
- Include Objects as desired
Warning! Changes to the base sheets will be reflected in the Dashboard.
When you're ready, make sure to publish your data. Be aware that Tableau Public will not store drafts and you must publish publicly in order to save your material.
Remember! This is a public release of your data. don't use sensitive information.
Also, consider cleaning up your dashboard with by:
- Naming Sheets/Dashboards
- Run Optimizer
Bee Lehman, Ph.D. (Librarian) beelehman@berkeley.edu