Advanced Data Visualization and Dashboard Design
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Heat Map:
A heatmap is a data visualization technique that uses color-coded representations to
show the magnitude of a variable across two dimensions. It's a way to visually represent
complex data, making it easier to understand patterns, trends, and relationships within the
data at a glance.
Heatmap is defined as a graphical representation of data using colors to visualize the
value of the matrix. In this to represent more common values or higher activities brighter
colors basically reddish colours are used and to less common or activity values darker
colours are preferred. Heatmap is also defined by the name of the shading matrix .
A heat map is a way to represent data points in a data set in a visual manner. All heat
maps share one thing in common they use different colours or different shades of the same
colour to represent different values and to communicate the relationships that may exist
between the variables plotted on the x-axis and y-axis. Usually, a darker colour or shade
represents a higher or greater quantity of the value being represented in the heat map.
Example:
Higher values will be used with greener & lower values redder.
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Excel Work sheet
Once this Excel file is imported to Tableau, the following window appears, click sheet 1(go
to worksheet)
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Moving the cursor along Heat map will display the corresponding value as shown in the
following figure.
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Map
Maps are handy for visualizing geographical data. Drag and drop any geographic
field, such as city, country, postcode, or state, on the details field, which will automatically
create a map.
After importing Excel data to Tableau, the following window appears
Click on Go to worksheet & then double click on State on the Data panel on left hand side
automatically create India map & then drag Sales to colour with create an Interactive map.
By moving cursor on map will indicate the respective sales.
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Geographical data
Tableau effectively utilizes geographical data to create informative and interactive
maps. It automatically recognizes common geographical fields like country, city, state, and
postal codes, and can even generate latitude and longitude coordinates for mapping
locations. Users can also manually assign geographic roles and create custom territories.
Import the Excel file containing the following information
Once done, in the Data Pane double click on Country, State, City, Postal code, Latitude and
Longitude this will create an India map with information regarding these eleven states with
all related information user provided.
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Tree Map
In Tableau, a treemap is a visualization used to display hierarchical data using nested
rectangles. The size and color of each rectangle represent different measures, while the
hierarchical structure is defined by the dimension. Treemaps are useful for quickly
understanding the relative sizes of data categories and identifying patterns within the data.
After importing the Excel file in the usual manner, drag States to Row and Area to Column
the Tableau automatically creates a Bar chart. Click Treemap icon on right Pane will
generate a Treemap for the data
The above Treemap consists of rectangles of different dimensions with respect to area of
each given state in an hierarchical order (arranged in order of rank – highest to lowest)
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Bubble Charts
Bubble charts display data as a cluster of circles. Each of the values in the dimension
field represents a circle whereas the values of measure represent the size of those circles.
After the process of Drag and Drop, select Packed Bubbles on Right Pane creates a Bubble
chart.
Bubble chart
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Dual Axis
In Tableau, a dual axis means showing two different measures (or two variations of a
measure) on the same graph, sharing the same X-axis but each having its own Y-axis.
It’s mainly used when:
You want to compare two related metrics in one view.
The metrics have different scales or units (e.g., sales in INR and profit in %).
You want to combine different chart types (e.g., bars + line).
Drag Month → Columns.
Drag Sales (INR) → Rows.
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Drag Profit Margin (%) → Rows (next to Sales).
Right-click the second axis (the one for Profit Margin) in the view → You will see "Dual
Axis" in the menu.
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Combined Charts
In Tableau, Combined Charts (also called Combo Charts) are when you display two
or more different chart types in the same view
Bars for Sales (INR)
Line for Profit Margin (%)
This is most often done using a Dual Axis so each measure can have its own scale and
chart type.
After this, on the left Pane you will find the following
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The following diagram appears
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Filtering, Sorting and Grouping
In Tableau, filtering, sorting, and grouping are essential for data analysis and
visualization. Filtering allows you to narrow down your data to focus on specific subsets,
sorting arranges data in a particular order, and grouping combines related data points for
easier analysis.
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Filtering in Tableau is a crucial feature for focusing on relevant data in visualizations
and analyses. Tableau offers several types of filters, each serving different purposes and
applied in a specific order called the order of operations:
Extract Filters:
Applied when creating extracts to limit the data imported into Tableau, improving
performance by excluding irrelevant data upfront.
Data Source Filters:
Restrict data at the source level for all views using that data. Useful for data security and
limiting data accessibility globally.
Context Filters:
Create a subset of data that serves as a context for other filters. Useful to improve
performance and apply dependent filters like Top N within that context.
Dimension Filters:
Apply filters on categorical (discrete) data, allowing inclusion or exclusion of specific
values.
Measure Filters:
Apply filters on quantitative (numeric) data, typically by setting a range or condition (e.g.,
sales greater than $50,000).
Date Filters:
Filter based on date fields, supporting range selection, relative dates, or specific dates.
Table Calculation Filters:
These operate on the results of table calculations (e.g., ranks, running totals) after
aggregation. They only filter the view, not the underlying data, and enable filtering like
showing the top N ranks.
Example:
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