Visual Analytics Fundamentals: Creating Compelling Data Narratives with Tableau 9780137956937, 2023937184, 9780137956821, 0137956827

Table of contents :
Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

1 Welcome to Visual Analytics

A Visual Revolution

The Evolution from Data Visualization to Visual Data Storytelling

A Brief Look at the State of the Industry

From Visual to Story: Bridging the Gap

Summary

2 The Power of Visual Analytics

The Science of Storytelling

The Brain on Stories

The Human on Stories

The Power of Stories

The Classic Visualization Example

Using Small Personal Data for Big Stories

The Two-or-Four Season Debate

Napoleon’s March

Stories Outside of the Box

Summary

3 Getting Started with Tableau

Using Tableau

Why Tableau?

The Tableau Product Portfolio

Tableau Desktop

Tableau Server

Tableau Cloud

Tableau Prep

Tableau Public

Tableau Reader and Tableau Viewer

Getting Started

Installing Tableau Desktop

Connecting to Data

Connecting to Tables

Live Versus Extract

Connecting to Multiple Tables with Relationships and Joins

Adding and Replacing Data Sources

Basic Data Prep with Data Interpreter

Navigating the Tableau Interface

Menus and Toolbar

Data Pane

Shelves and Cards

Legends

Understanding Dimensions and Measures

Dimensions

Measures

Continuous and Discrete

Summary

4 Keeping Visual Analytics in Context

Context in Action

Harry Potter: Hero or Menace?

Ensuring Relevant Context

Exploratory Versus Explanatory Analysis

Structuring Visual Analytic Stories

Story Plot

Story Genre

Audience Analysis for Storytelling

Who

What

Why

How

Summary

5 Fundamental Data Visualizations

The Bar Chart

Tableau How-To: Bar Chart

The Line Chart

Tableau How-To: Line Chart

Pie and Doughnut Charts

Tableau How-To: Pie and Doughnut Charts

The Scatter Plot

Tableau How-To: Scatter Plots

The Packed Bubble Chart

Tableau How-To: Packed Bubble Charts

The Tree Map

Tableau How-To: Tree Maps

The Heat Map

Tableau How-To: Heat Maps

Summary

6 Fundamental Maps

Connecting to Geographic Data

Assigning Geographic Roles

Creating Geographic Hierarchies

Proportional Symbol Maps

Choropleth Map

Summary

7 Design Tips for Curating Visual Analytics

Visual Design Building Blocks

Color

Sequential Color

Diverging Color

Categorical Color

Color Effects

Opacity

Mark Borders

Mark Halos

Pre-attentive Colors

Important Color Considerations

The Truth About Red and Green

Lines

Formatting Grid Lines, Zero Lines, and Drop Lines

Formatting Borders

Formatting, Shading, and Banding

Shapes

Shape Marks Card

Custom Shapes

Summary

8 Structuring Analytics for Storytelling: Prep, Dashboards, and Stories

Basic Data Prep in Tableau: Data Interpreter

Data Interpreter in Action

Handling Nulls in Tableau

Pivoting Data from Wide to Tall

A Note on Preparing Survey Data for Visual Analysis

Storyboarding Your Visual Analytics

Understanding Stories in Tableau

The Storyboarding Process

Summary

9 Beyond Fundamentals: Advanced Visualizations

Timelines

Bar-in-Bar Charts

Likert-Scale Visualizations

A 100% Stacked Bar Chart

Divergent Stacked Bar Chart

Lollipop Charts

Labeled Lollipops

Word Clouds

Summary

10 Closing Thoughts

Five Steps to Visual Data Storytelling

Step 1. Find Data That Supports Your Story

Step 2. Layer Information for Understanding

Step 3. Design to Reveal

Step 4. Beware the False Reveal

Step 5. Tell It Fast

The Important Role of Feedback

Ongoing Learning

Teach Yourself: External Resources

Companion Materials to This Text

Appendix A Tableau Services

Index