Tableau Dashboards

🎨 Tableau Dashboards: Your Command Center for Data Stories

Imagine you’re a pilot in a cockpit. In front of you are dozens of dials, buttons, and screens. Each one tells you something important—speed, altitude, fuel. Now imagine if all those dials were scattered in different rooms. Chaos, right?

A Tableau Dashboard is your data cockpit. It brings all your important information into ONE screen, so you can see everything at a glance and make smart decisions fast.

🧭 The Big Picture

We’re going to explore THREE superpowers of Tableau Dashboards:

graph TD
    A["📊 Tableau Dashboards"] --> B["🎯 Design Principles"]
    A --> C["🖱️ Interactive Dashboards"]
    A --> D["⚡ Dashboard Actions"]
    B --> B1["Layout & Focus"]
    C --> C1["Filters & Highlights"]
    D --> D1["Click to Explore"]

🎯 Part 1: Dashboard Design Principles

What Makes a Great Dashboard?

Think of your favorite picture book. What makes it great?

• The pictures are big and clear
• The words are easy to read
• Everything has a purpose

Great dashboards work the same way!

The 5 Golden Rules

1. 🎪 ONE Main Star

Every dashboard needs a hero—one chart that grabs attention first.

Example: If you’re showing sales data, make your total revenue number BIG and at the top. Everything else supports this star.

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│   💰 $2.4 MILLION          │  ← THE STAR
│      Total Revenue          │
├──────────────┬──────────────┤
│  📊 By Month │  🗺️ By Region│  ← Supporting actors
└──────────────┴──────────────┘

2. 📐 The Z-Pattern

Our eyes naturally move in a Z shape when reading:

• Top-left → Most important thing
• Top-right → Second most important
• Bottom-left → Details
• Bottom-right → Actions or extras

3. 🎨 Colors That Make Sense

• Red = Bad, Alert, Danger
• Green = Good, Success
• Blue = Neutral, Information

Bad Example: Using rainbow colors randomly Good Example: Red for losses, green for profits

4. 📱 Don’t Overcrowd

Rule of thumb: No more than 5-7 visualizations per dashboard.

Think of it like a toy box. If you dump ALL your toys on the floor, you can’t find anything. But if you pick your 5 favorite toys, you can actually play!

5. ✂️ White Space is Your Friend

Empty space isn’t wasted space. It helps your brain breathe and focus.

🖱️ Part 2: Interactive Dashboards

What Makes a Dashboard “Interactive”?

A static dashboard is like a photograph. Pretty, but frozen. An interactive dashboard is like a video game—you click, and things happen!

The 3 Magic Interactions

1. 🔍 Filters: Your Data Magnifying Glass

Filters let you zoom in on specific data.

Example: You have sales for ALL 50 states. With a filter, you can click “California” and suddenly see ONLY California’s data everywhere!

graph TD
    A["All Data: 50 States"] -->|Click Filter| B["Just California"]
    B --> C["All charts update!"]

Types of Filters:

• Single Select: Choose one thing (like a radio button)
• Multi-Select: Choose many things (like checkboxes)
• Range Slider: Pick a range (like ages 18-35)
• Date Filter: Pick a time period

2. 🔦 Highlighting: The Spotlight Effect

When you click on something, related things light up while others fade.

Example: Click on “Shoes” in a product chart. Now in your map, all stores that sell shoes glow, while others turn gray.

It’s like shining a flashlight in a dark room—suddenly you see connections you missed before!

3. 📤 Parameters: The User’s Magic Wand

Parameters let users type in their own values and see results change.

Example:

• User types: “Show me products over $50”
• Dashboard instantly filters to expensive products!

⚡ Part 3: Dashboard Actions

What Are Dashboard Actions?

Actions are the secret sauce that makes dashboards come alive. When a user does something (like click), the dashboard reacts.

Think of it like dominoes. You push one, and a chain reaction starts!

The 3 Types of Actions

1. 🎯 Filter Actions

What happens: Clicking one chart filters other charts.

Example:

• You have a pie chart of categories
• You click “Electronics”
• Your bar chart now shows ONLY electronics sales
• Your table shows ONLY electronics products

graph LR
    A["Click Pie Slice"] -->|Filter Action| B["Bar Chart Filters"]
    A -->|Filter Action| C["Table Filters"]
    A -->|Filter Action| D["Map Filters"]

How to Create:

1. Go to Dashboard menu
2. Click “Actions”
3. Choose “Add Action” → “Filter”
4. Pick source sheet and target sheets
5. Done! Now clicking connects everything.

2. 🔗 URL Actions

What happens: Clicking opens a webpage or external link.

Example:

• Click on a product name
• A new tab opens with that product’s webpage!

Real-World Use:

• Click customer → Opens their CRM profile
• Click store → Opens Google Maps location
• Click order → Opens tracking page

3. 📊 Go to Sheet Actions

What happens: Clicking takes you to a different dashboard or worksheet.

Example:

• Main dashboard shows summary
• Click “See Details” → Zooms into detailed view
• Like drilling down from a map view to street view!

graph TD
    A["Summary Dashboard"] -->|Click Region| B["Region Details"]
    B -->|Click Store| C["Store Deep Dive"]
    C -->|Back Button| B
    B -->|Back Button| A

🎮 How Actions Are Triggered

You can control WHEN actions happen:

🔧 Building Your First Action (Step-by-Step)

Let’s create a filter action together:

Step 1: Open your dashboard

Step 2: Click Dashboard → Actions

Step 3: Click “Add Action” → “Filter”

Step 4: Give it a name: “Category Filter”

Step 5: Set Source: The chart you’ll click on

Step 6: Set Target: Charts that should react

Step 7: Choose trigger: “Select” (click)

Step 8: Click OK → Test it!

🌟 Putting It All Together

A Real Example: Coffee Shop Dashboard

Imagine you run 10 coffee shops. Your perfect dashboard might be:

┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  ☕ COFFEE EMPIRE DASHBOARD            │
│                                        │
│  💰 $45,000 This Month                 │ ← Main Star
│                                        │
├─────────────────┬──────────────────────┤
│                 │                      │
│  📊 Sales by    │   🗺️ Map of Shops    │ ← Filter each other
│     Product     │                      │
│                 │                      │
├─────────────────┴──────────────────────┤
│                                        │
│  📈 Daily Trend                        │ ← Reacts to selections
│                                        │
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

Interactivity:

• Click “Espresso” in product chart → Map shows which shops sell most espresso
• Click a shop on map → See that shop’s product mix
• Hover on trend line → See exact daily values

🎁 Key Takeaways

🚀 Your Mission

You’re now ready to build dashboards that:

• Tell a clear story at first glance
• Let users explore and discover
• Connect information with powerful actions

Remember: A great dashboard isn’t about showing ALL the data. It’s about showing the RIGHT data in the RIGHT way, so people can make SMART decisions quickly.

Go build something amazing! 🎨📊✨