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Phoenix Tableau User Group. May 20, 2014. Agenda. Requirement Gathering Identify gaps in resources and business alignment during planning Techniques to reduce scope-creep What questions to ask to derive the correct KPIs Dashboard Design How to apply simple design best practices
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PhoenixTableauUser Group May 20, 2014
Agenda Requirement Gathering • Identify gaps in resources and business alignment during planning • Techniques to reduce scope-creep • What questions to ask to derive the correct KPIs Dashboard Design • How to apply simple design best practices • Storyboarding • Narrative • Feedback Tableau helps people see and understand their data.
Visualization Fundamentals We visualize quantitative data to perform three fundamental tasks in an effort to achieve three essential goals: These three tasks are so fundamental to data visualization. Data visualization is the use of visual representations to explore, make sense of, and communicate data. - Stephen Few
Best Practices for Designing Dashboards Add interactivity to encourage exploration • Turn on quick filters • Turn on highlighting • Use URL Actions Make views more effective for your audience • Use custom tooltips • Minimize distractions • Make statements with titles and formatting • Provide zoom controls Control the sizing and layout • Use Fixed Size Dashboards • Develop Narrative for easy navigation and understanding • Incorporate colors, and charts that promote visual analysis
Simplicity | Clarity | Efficiency Simplicity • When the user is presented with the dashboard it should be easily understood at a glance and not overwhelm. Clarity • Our minds seek harmony and balance. A dashboard should be laid out in a balanced way. Efficiency • Aim for minimal complexity and maximum ease of use. Launch Visualization
So What Is a Good Story? Think of Your Analysis as a Story—Use a Story Structure • Find the story first: explore the data • Determine what you want people to do as a result • Write out the “story board” for your audience Be Authentic. Your Story will Flow • Make it personal, make it emotional • Start with metaphor or anecdote • Develop with data: authenticity is rooted in facts and facts are rooted in data • Supplement hard data with qualitative data Be Visual—Think of Yourself as a Film Editor • Use pictures, graphs, charts when possible • Design your graphs and charts for instant readability but allow for layers of meaning as the graph is studied
So What Is a Good Story? Make It Easy for Your Audience and You • Telling a story should be simple and direct. Recall and action will be that much stronger • Stick to 2-3 key issues and how they relate to your audience • No hoop jumping Invite and Direct Discussion • Focus on highlighting what the audience needs • Highlight key facts that relate to the story—the current state, rate of change, a key number. How does this link to story’s trend? • Extend the story parameters into questions • Invite them to continue the discussion via group discussion, blogs, intranets, user groups
Dashboard Examples – Design Problem • Slice 3 appears to be almost twice the size of slice 2. • However, the values in the table indicate that slice 2 is 18.09% while slice 3 is just 14.17%. • Another problem with this graph is less obvious. Pie charts are used to show parts of a whole. The sum of the parts must add up to 100%. The table adds up to 98.99%
Dashboard Examples – Design Solution • Simple design shows all the sectors and their corresponding allocations in a sorted table. • Although the table data can be easily associated with the corresponding bars to determine each sector’s percentage, discerning individual values is not the purpose of the bars. • The bars provide a means to rapidly compare the relative magnitudes of the values.
References Data Points: Visualization That Means Something By: Nathan Yau Rapid Graphs with Tableau Software 8: The Original Guide for the Accidental Analyst By: Stephen Few Tableau 8: The Official Guide By: George Peck A New Requirements-Gathering Technique for Building Applications Users will Embrace Source Link White Papers 5 Best Practices for Telling Great Data Stories - And Why it Will Make You a Better Analyst