Different Charts in Tableau for MCA 3 or IT Students

Prepared By : Prof. Uday Shah (HOD-IT) 

Different Charts in Tableau

1. Line Chart

• A Line Chart in Tableau shows data points connected by straight lines, often used to show trends over time.

• It is ideal for time series analysis, such as monthly sales, daily temperature, or yearly revenue.

• The X-axis generally represents time, and the Y-axis represents the measure you want to analyse.

• You can create a Line Chart by dragging a date field to Columns and a measure to Rows.

• Tableau automatically draws the connecting lines between points.

• You can change line style (solid, dashed, dotted) from the "Marks" card.

• It supports multiple lines for comparing different categories.

• You can use color encoding to differentiate lines.

• Adding trend lines in Tableau provides statistical insights.

• Works well with continuous data, not just discrete categories.

• Example: Monthly profit trend over a year.

• Practical Use: To track company performance over time.

2. Bar Chart

• A Bar Chart uses rectangular bars to represent data values.

• The length of the bar is proportional to the value it represents.

• It is widely used for comparing categories.

• Horizontal or vertical bars can be chosen depending on clarity.

• Created by dragging a dimension to Rows and a measure to Columns.

• Can be stacked or clustered.

• Supports sorting to arrange values in ascending or descending order.

• You can add color for better visual separation.

• Labels can be displayed to show exact values.

• Works well for categorical data comparisons.

• Example: Sales by region.

• Practical Use: To see which product category performs best.

3. Pie Chart

• A Pie Chart shows proportions as slices of a circle.

• The size of each slice represents the contribution to the total.

• Created by dragging a dimension to Color and a measure to Angle.

• Works best when comparing a few categories.

• Too many slices make it hard to read.

• Can display labels for percentage values.

• Allows colour encoding for different slices.

• Often used for share analysis.

• Can be combined with legends for clarity.

• Example: Market share by brand.

• Practical Use: To quickly understand category proportions.

4. Bubble Chart

• A Bubble Chart displays data as circles (bubbles) of different sizes.

• The size represents a measure, and position can show two other measures.

• Created by selecting the Circle mark type in Tableau.

• Color can be added to represent categories or additional measures.

• Good for showing relationships between three variables.

• Can be used to identify outliers.

• Requires a scatterplot-like layout for best results.

• Example: Sales vs. Profit with bubble size as quantity sold.

• Can be interactive with filters and tooltips.

• Works well for multi-variable analysis.

• Practical Use: To find high-sales but low-profit products.

5. Bullet Chart

• A Bullet Chart is an enhanced bar chart with reference lines.

• It shows actual performance compared to a target.

• Created by selecting Bullet Graph from the "Show Me" panel.

• Useful for KPI tracking.

• Displays performance bands (poor, average, excellent).

• Can show multiple measures in the same chart.

• Works well in dashboard KPIs.

• Can be displayed horizontally or vertically.

• Example: Actual sales vs. sales target.

• Practical Use: For executive reports showing goal achievement.

6. Area Chart

• An Area Chart is similar to a line chart but with the area under the line filled with color.

• It emphasizes volume changes over time.

• Created by changing the mark type to Area.

• Can be stacked for multiple categories.

• Works well for cumulative data representation.

• Color can differentiate between categories.

• Often used for showing market trends.

• Example: Website traffic over months.

• Can be smoothed for a cleaner look.

• Practical Use: To visualize total growth trends.

7. Waterfall Chart

• A Waterfall Chart shows incremental increases or decreases in a measure.

• Created by selecting Gantt Bar and customizing table calculations.

• Useful for showing how a starting value changes to an ending value.

• Breaks down contributions step by step.

• Positive changes are usually green, negative changes are red.

• Example: Profit changes by month.

• Shows net effect after all changes.

• Can include subtotals.

• Practical Use: To explain profit/loss components.

8. Crosstab

• A Crosstab is a text table in Tableau.

• Displays data in rows and columns with numeric values.

• Created by selecting Text Table in "Show Me".

• Similar to an Excel pivot table.

• Supports sorting, filtering, and conditional formatting.

• Good for showing exact values.

• Example: Sales by region and product.

• Can be exported to Excel.

• Practical Use: To present tabular reports.

9. Histogram

• A Histogram shows frequency distribution of a measure.

• Groups continuous data into bins.

• Created by selecting Histogram in "Show Me".

• Automatically creates bin fields.

• Useful for statistical analysis.

• Example: Distribution of customer ages.

• Can adjust bin size for detail or summary.

• Highlights patterns in data.

• Practical Use: To analyse how data is spread.

:: Best of Luck ::