Can you tell a story using data?
Let's take a look at one of the most popular data visualization tools currently on the market; and if, is none other than- Picture
Siga leyendo para crear su primer panelA panel is a group of experts that meets to discuss and analyze a specific topic. These forums are common at conferences, seminars and public debates, where participants share their knowledge and perspectives. Panels can address a variety of areas, from science to politics, and its objective is to encourage the exchange of ideas and critical reflection among the attendees.... con Tableau y también para aprender cómo hice mi primer proyecto final en Tableau.
What is Tableau?
Tableau is a very powerful data analysis and visualization tool in which you can create standard dashboards for the company not only to visualize the data, but also to extract information from them.
Why Tableau?
- Tableau is a very convenient tool to quickly visualize your ideas. Just drag and drop and go, you have a graph in front of you.
- It has an amazing interface that is very intuitive and easy to understand.
- Can connect to multiple data sources; more of 75 to be precise.
- It has built-in analytical tools and, Thus, no need to waste time on calculations.
- Dashboards and stories created with Tableau are interactive.
All of these reasons for using Tableau will make a lot more sense when we learn it hands-on.. So let's dive into it.
Downloading Tableau
Tableau is a paid software, but offers a free trial of 14 days from which you can start here.
Another option is to use Public table (what i use, currently being a student). La limitación de usar Public TableTableau Public is a free platform that allows users to create and share interactive data visualizations online. Ideal for journalists, researchers and educators, offers analysis tools that facilitate visual data exploration. Users can post their work on a public profile, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing in the data community. What's more, Tableau Public is accessible to people without... es que no puede descargar localmente los paneles y se publican en línea. But it is a good option when you are starting.
Interfaz from Tableau
Let's dive right into Tableau! This is what the Tableau landing window looks like.
On the left, tenemos la opción de conexión a través de la cual podemos conectarnos a nuestra Data SourceA "Data Source" refers to any place or medium where information can be obtained. These sources can be both primary and, such as surveys and experiments, as secondary, as databases, academic articles or statistical reports. The right choice of a data source is crucial to ensure the validity and reliability of information in research and analysis.....
Then, we have the option to open, if you want to open a project you have worked on.
Finally, we have some resources that can help you learn more about Tableau.
Problem Statement
Your client is a multi-city food delivery company. They have several logistics centers in these cities to send food orders to their customers. The client wants to help these centers with the forecast of demand for the coming weeks so that these centers plan the stock of raw materials accordingly..
The replenishment of most raw materials is done weekly and, since the raw material is perishable, procurement planning is of utmost importance. Secondly, Center staffing is also an area where accurate demand forecasts are really helpful. We have the following information with us in the form of 3 different data sets:
- Historical demand data for a product center mix
- Product characteristics (meal) as a category, subcategory, current price and discount
- Information for logistics centers as a central area, city information, etc.
You can download the required data from here.
We need to create a story in Tableau that talks about the level of demand in each center. This analysis should be detailed enough to also include product information.. Customer wants an end-to-end report to understand which compliance areas are working well and which are not. You can also talk about meal combinations from the center to add nuance to your final presentation..
Don't be put off by this problem, as it may seem complicated at first. Let's take small steps and learn how to create this story in Tableau.
Hypothesis generation
Even before loading your dataset, it is good practice to propose a set of hypotheses. It doesn't have to be alright, but the important thing at this point is to make an exhaustive list without looking at the data. This will help you better respond to what you are looking for.
Some of the hypotheses I can think of are:
- The number of orders will be higher in metropolitan cities compared to small cities.
- Indian food contributes to the majority of sales.
- Orders will be more on weekends.
Reiterating, these assumptions do not have to be absolutely correct and you will know this when you actually visualize the data.
Loading data
Uploading or connecting to a data source is a breeze in Tableau. Just click on the format of the data source you want to connect to and a dialog box will appear where you can select the file and here, Ready!
Then, how could you have read before, the project we are going to work on is a Food Forecast Analysis. Then, to start, open the excel sheet Weekly_Demand_Data.
Create your first visualization!
A measureThe "measure" it is a fundamental concept in various disciplines, which refers to the process of quantifying characteristics or magnitudes of objects, phenomena or situations. In mathematics, Used to determine lengths, Areas and volumes, while in social sciences it can refer to the evaluation of qualitative and quantitative variables. Measurement accuracy is crucial to obtain reliable and valid results in any research or practical application.... que abra la hoja de Excel, you will be directed to the data source tab which looks like this.
See how all the data has been entered in a table. You can see here what kind of data is available on your sheet.
Now, let's create our first visualization.
Click on the Sheet 1, found next to the data source tab.
This is what a blank sheet looks like.
See how Tableau has categorized columns and variables as' dimensions’ (central identification, ID, food identification, etc.) and ‘measures’ (base price, starting price, etc.).
How we need to create a story that talks about the weekly demand level, Let's start by looking at the number of orders over weeks.
A select week Y number of orders and you may be able to see the 'Show me’ and a chart type is highlighted.
The 'Show me tab’ Tableau suggests the type of chart that will be appropriate for displaying the dimensions and measures you have selected. But it should not be blindly trusted. You must apply logic and your intuition to see if the graph suggested by the Show Me tab will fulfill your visualization purpose..
Look, here the suggestion is a Gantt chart, but my intuition says that a line diagram would be better to visualize this.
And see how we created our first visualization. Cuando pasa el mouse sobre el line graphThe line chart is a visual tool used to represent data over time. It consists of a series of points connected by lines, which allows you to observe trends, Fluctuations and patterns in the data. This type of chart is especially useful in areas such as economics, Meteorology and scientific research, making it easier to compare different data sets and identify behaviors across the board.., has a tooltip showing the week number and the number of orders for that week.
Combine data
Now, let's also create visualizations of the other sheets. For it, we will need “match” the other two sheets with the data from this data source.
Go to the new data source as shown below and in the same way as before load the other two sheets as well.
And now you will have three data sources.
Now, Let's see how useful the data combination is. Select 'type of center’ from the data sheet fulfilment_centre_info and ‘num orders’ de Weekly_demand_data y aquí puede ver un bar graphicThe bar chart is a visual representation of data that uses rectangular bars to show comparisons between different categories. Each bar represents a value and its length is proportional to it. This type of chart is useful for visualizing and analyzing trends, facilitating the interpretation of quantitative information. It is widely used in various disciplines, such as statistics, Marketing and research, due to its simplicity and effectiveness.... con filas y columnas de diferentes fuentes de datos y así es exactamente como funciona la combinación de datos.
(Asegúrese de hacer clic en el botón de vínculo junto a la variableIn statistics and mathematics, a "variable" is a symbol that represents a value that can change or vary. There are different types of variables, and qualitative, that describe non-numerical characteristics, and quantitative, representing numerical quantities. Variables are fundamental in experiments and studies, since they allow the analysis of relationships and patterns between different elements, facilitating the understanding of complex phenomena.... común para vincular dos fuentes de datos. You can think of this as something similar to primary and foreign keys in DBMS).
Pivot structure in Tableau
If you are familiar with Excel, you must know Excel pivot tables. You can also create the same in Tableau.
Let's see the number of orders per category and kitchen in a pivot structure. For it, bring category and cuisine to the ranks similarly, but to turn it into a pivot structure, drag the number of orders into the table-like structure that has been formed instead of taking it to the columns.
A better form of presentation would be to present the number of orders in descending or ascending order, what can be done by clicking this button as follows.
Another way you can present is by taking the average number of orders, instead of the total number of orders, as follows.
Filtration
You can even apply filters to your visualizations in Tableau.
Continuing with the same pivot structure, let's remove the kitchen from the rows and try to apply a filter on the categories and that filter will be the gastronomic kitchen.
Drag the kitchen to the filters. A dialog box will open. Select all and click “To accept”.
Then, click on the kitchen filter and select 'show filter'.
It will appear like this on the right and now, whatever cuisine you select here, your data will appear in the dynamic structure.
You can even turn this filter into a drop down list as shown below.
Parameters
The parametersThe "parameters" are variables or criteria that are used to define, measure or evaluate a phenomenon or system. In various fields such as statistics, Computer Science and Scientific Research, Parameters are critical to establishing norms and standards that guide data analysis and interpretation. Their proper selection and handling are crucial to obtain accurate and relevant results in any study or project.... pueden entenderse como controles que pueden ayudarlo a decidir qué desea ver en la visualización.
May sound crazy; look at this visualization, for instance.
You will see that drop-down menu on the right where you can choose if you want to see the number of orders by categories or by kitchens. This is a parameter, a control.
Now let's see how we can create such a parameter.
In the sidebar, click on that little triangle and you can see 'create parameter’
Name your parameter, select data type as' string’ and fill in the allowed values as a list, which in our case are two values, Kitchen and Category, and ready, You have created a parameter!
Finally, you must select 'Show parameter’ and then you can use that parameter in your visualization.
Sample views
Now, I encourage you to explore the dataset and try to make more visualizations. This will help you understand Tableau better and also help you better understand the data to solve the problem statement we mentioned earlier..
Some of the visualizations I created are shared below.
