Freakalytics®

Practical Analytics for Better Decisions

Freakalytics™ header image
 
 

Webinar today–What can visual analytics & big data do for you? (3 PM Eastern)

What can visual analytics & big data do for you?AA v 31 front cover 2 225 300

In this 45 minute webinar, Stephen McDaniel will review visual analytic examples and demonstrate what big data analytics can do for you. Stephen will demonstrate this using Tableau 8.

Visual analytics- how is it different than traditional analytics?
Review several examples of visual analytics and how they empower decision-makers quickly and clearly
Build new analytic content from scratch in a matter of minutes

If time permits, a brief question and answer session will follow.

Register here

Add Your Comment Here

Tableau Tips: Nested sorting not as expected- a simple fix

Many students have been confused about the Tableau data sort behavior.  A common question is how to sort the data at a lower level correctly within each higher level of data in a view.  One student recently came to us with this view and asked, “What’s up? I thought it would sort each state independently within each Product Type! In the first group, Herbal Tea, Nevada is clearly number one yet it is shown in the fourth position.”

 

Tableau_Tips_Nested_Sorting_1_Freakalytics

 

Solution

I replied that Tableau was sorting State overall across every product type once for the entire table and then displaying this sort order for every Product Type.  She said this is “stupid, how can I fix it! I wasted hours trying to fix it already.”

Login to see the solution including a solution workbook! If you haven’t joined Freakalytics yet, it’s free and easy.  Just click signup.

Read the rest of this entry »

Add Your Comment Here

Rapid Graphs with Tableau 8 – now on Amazon

Rapid_Graphs_Tableau_8_Freakalytics_Copyright_346_433
Rapid Graphs with Tableau 8
The Original Guide for the Accidental Analyst

+ Written by Tableau insider & product manager,
  teaching Tableau to thousands since 2009

+ Real-world examples that you can follow include
  tips and tricks to save you time

+ High-def videos & solutions

+ New dashboard section taught at MBA programs

+ The fourth edition–proven & trusted

+ Buy it on Amazon

 
 
 

Tired of boring spreadsheets and data overload from confusing graphs? Master the art of rapid graphs with Tableau! Our hands-on case study approach and more than 225 illustrations teach you how to quickly explore and understand your data to make informed decisions in a wide variety of real-world situations. We include best practices of visual analytics for ideas on how to communicate your findings with audience-friendly graphs, tables and maps.

A picture is worth a thousand words” is a common saying that is more relevant today than ever as data volumes grow and the need for easy access to answers becomes more critical. This book covers the core of Tableau capabilities in easy-to-follow examples, updated and expanded for Version 8, as the fourth edition of the first book on Tableau. Learn how to be successful with Tableau from the team that started the original training program as the founding Tableau Education Partner!
 
 
A must read for anyone interested in Tableau. Clear explanations, practical advice and beautiful examples!”
Elissa Fink – Chief Marketing Officer, Tableau Software

“A great work- this is going to be a much-loved book.”
Marc Rueter – Senior Director of Technology, Consulting and Strategy, Tableau Software

“Well written, easy to use book that has something for everyone.
  A great resource if you are new to Tableau… but also useful tips for advanced users as well.”
Bob Morrison – Founder/CEO, Quadrant Arts Education Research and Chairman at MakeMusic
 
 
Stephen McDaniel
Stephen is passionate about helping people understand, present and take action with their data. He is author of SAS for Dummies, The AccidentalAnalyst and the Rapid Dashboard Reference Card. He has been on the Faculty of The American Marketing Association and The Data Warehouse Institute and is currently Director of Analytics at Tableau Software and Principal Analyst at Freakalytics, LLC.

Eileen McDaniel
Co-founder of Freakalytics, Eileen directs the development of books and course materials. She is lead author of The Accidental Analyst: Show Your Data Who’s Boss. This book provides a step-by-step analysis framework to help people who didn’t plan for a career as an analyst, but now must analyze data quickly and effectively.
 
 
244 pages
Black and white
 
 
+ Buy it on Amazon

Comments Off

Free Webinar Videos and Solutions—Part 2 of Better Analytics in Tableau 8 (Video)

 
Forecasting-better-analytics-tableau-8-freakalytics-2If you display information the right way,
anybody can be an analyst.

—JOHN TUKEY
Prominent American statistician
who first used the word “software”

 
 
 
 

Topics with links
      + Treemaps and packed bubble charts
      + Automatically selecting the right data for your analysis
      + Forecasting for smarter planning
      + Google Analytics on the desktop—fast, beautiful and blend it with your data

The following videos are grouped by topic from our recent webinar, Better Analytics in Tableau 8. The work done in Tableau is also available for download (as a packaged workbook) below the relevant video. Tableau 8 is required to open the packaged workbooks on this page. The videos on this page are available to view in high-quality 1280×720 size, just click the four-arrow box in the bottom right of the video before clicking the play button.
 
 
 
Understanding relative contribution and finding extremes at a glance
Treemaps and packed bubble charts (8:43)


Download the Treemaps and packed bubble charts workbook (requires Tableau 8)
 
 
 
Automatically selecting the right data for your analysis
Data source filters (3:42)

Read the rest of this entry »

Add Your Comment Here

Free Webinar Videos and Solutions—Part 1 of Better Analytics in Tableau 8 (Video)

 
Map-better-analytics-tableau-8-freakalytics-2If you display information the right way,
anybody can be an analyst.

—JOHN TUKEY
Prominent American statistician
who first used the word “software”

 
 
 
 

Topics with links
      + Multi-item color encoding
      + Multi-item data labels
      + Creating sets in Tableau 8
      + Union, intersection and partial sets; using sets in calculated fields

The following videos are grouped by topic from our recent webinar, Better Analytics in Tableau 8. The work done in Tableau is also available for download (as a packaged workbook) below the relevant video. Tableau 8 is required to open the packaged workbooks on this page. The videos on this page are available to view in high-quality 1280×720 size, just click the four-arrow box in the bottom right of the video before clicking the play button.
 
 
 
Finding data in your view
Multi-item color encoding (4:14)


Download the multi-item color encoding workbook (requires Tableau 8)
 
 
 
Finding data in your view
Multi-item data labels (3:04)

Download the data labels with multi-item details workbook (requires Tableau 8)
 
 
 
Selecting data with predefined filters
Creating sets in Tableau 8 (8:45)

Read the rest of this entry »

Add Your Comment Here

Precise layout of filters and legends when exporting from Tableau to PDF and image files

 
A reply to a recent Tableau User Forum Idea, “Option To Place Legend Horizontally Across Bottom For Image And PDF”.
 
 
 
 
 
A Solution
This can be done, but not on the worksheet. If you move it

Read the rest of this entry »

Add Your Comment Here

How to show growth over time and conceal the baseline time period in Tableau

A client asked,

What I want to show is a YoY (year over year) or WoW (week over week) comparison – however the first data point is always missing – even when the underlying data are available.

For example:
The full set of data shows a null value for 2006 – just because there is no data available to compute a comparison.
Now I want to move the date filter to start @ 2007 – and now 2007 has a null value even though we have data available to compute that metric.
” What’s the issue and how can I display only years

Read the rest of this entry »

Add Your Comment Here

Simple example of relative date filter in Tableau 7

 
 
 

Add Your Comment Here