claw 2017 tableau slides (buhler, magnus) (read-only) · outline •...

Purposeful  Data  Visualization  with  Tableau

Jeremy  Buhler,  Assessment  Librarian,  UBC  |  jeremy.buhler@ubc.ca

Ebony  Magnus,  Assessment  &  User  Experience  Librarian,  SAIT  |  ebony.magnus@sait.ca  

Workshop  material  and  data  files  athttp://bit.ly/claw-­‐tableau

Please  download  copy  of  Excel  files

Outline

• what  we  mean  by  “purposeful”• preparing  your  data• introducing  the  Tableau  interface• exercise/practice

break,  10:30-­‐11:00

• creating  dashboards• exercise/practice• refining  the  visual  presentation• exercise/practice

Goals

• not  intimidated  by  the  software• curious  about  what  more  it  can  do• prepared  to  tackle  your  own  datasets

data  visualization

“all  types  of  visual  representation  that  support  the  exploration,  examination,  and  

communication  of  data”  (Few,  2009)

objects

pointslinesbars

relationships

time-­‐seriesnominal  comparisonrankingpart-­‐to-­‐wholedeviationcorrelationgeospatial

pre-­‐attentive  processing

the  perception  of  basic  attributes  “prior  to  and  without  the  need  for  conscious  awareness”  (Few,  2009)

Attentive  processing

Preattentive  processing

From  Stephen  Few,  Tapping  the  Power  of  Visual  Perceptionhttp://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/ie/visual_perception.pdf

form

length width orientation

shape

size

blurcurvature enclosure

colour position motion

hue

intensity

2-­‐D  position direction  of  motion

spatial  grouping

data  cleaning  &  prep

more polished =more true?

more polished =more true?

faster  = better?

more polished =more true?

faster  = better?

understand  your  data,  understand  your  tools

Choosing  and  preparing  your  data

• level  of  detail  or  aggregation• format• privacy• description• quality

Choosing  and  preparing  your  data

• choose  raw over  aggregated  data• normalize cross-­‐tabulated  datasets

Choosing  and  preparing  your  data

• choose  raw over  aggregated  data• normalize cross-­‐tabulated  datasets

Related  resource:  Preparing  Excel  files  for  analysis  [in  Tableau].  http://kb.tableau.com/articles/knowledgebase/preparing-­‐excel-­‐files-­‐analysis

Tall data,  not  wide

raw vs aggregated  data

raw vs aggregated  data

tall vs cross-­‐tabulated  (wide)  data

tall vs cross-­‐tabulated  (wide)  data

tall vs cross-­‐tabulated  (wide)  data

Like  with  like,  in  the  same  column

<software  demo  and  hands-­‐on  practice>

Junk  drawer,  tickle  trunkTry  to  break  your  viz.    Throw  everything  at  it,  try  things  you  don’t  understand,  create  a  mess  and  see  what  you  find.  

<software  demo  and  hands-­‐on  practice>

Participants  encouraged  to  share  examples  athttps://public.tableau.com/profile/claw.2017

Explore your  chosen  data  set.  Try  to  identify  one  pattern,  one  outlier,  and  one  relationship.    Consider  how  this  changes  your  initial  assumptions  about  the  service  or  product  represented  in  the  data  set.

<software  demo  and  hands-­‐on  practice>

Communicate something  of  import  about  your  data  set.  Consider  who you’re  speaking  to  and  what  you  hope  to  accomplish.  Use  Tableau’s  features  strategically  to  highlight  aspects  of  your  data  that  are  most  important  to  your  message.

<hands-­‐on  practice>