VISUALIZING DATA WITH TABLEAU

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, STRATEGIC DATA PROJECT

WELCOME

Ready to build engaging, interactive visualizations without coding?

If so, then you’re in the right place! Join us for a hands-on, high energy introduction to visualizing data with Tableau. With its drag-and-drop interface and dynamic output, this is a tool every analyst should have in their kit. With an emphasis on Tableau’s key functionalities and practical applications, we’ll progress from basic charts to dynamic dashboards that incorporate interactive filters and design theory. By the end of the workshops, you’ll be ready to dive into your own data with Tableau.

JUST 10 MINUTES OF PREWORK

This video will help you get your laptop ready in three steps.

1

Click here to download the data for our workshop. This Excel workbook contains ten years of university admissions data from the National Center for Education Statistics and their integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, commonly known as IPEDS. Everything we create will be based on these 16,580 rows.

2

We will spend most of our time together building visualizations in Tableau. Click here to download Tableau Public, a completely free version of this powerful software. Then install and launch the application on the laptop you will use during the workshop. If you happen to have Tableau Desktop, that will work perfectly too.

3

This final step is completely optional. If you would like to publicly publish what you create in Tableau, go back to Tableau Public’s website and click Sign Up to create a Tableau Public profile. This will allow you to upload your workbook and save it to Tableau’s cloud. Just remember: only save public data to Tableau Public.

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

If you miss a step, don’t worry. Everything we build together is right here.

1

You can download the complete Tableau workbook we referenced during the workshop. Just click the download button in the bottom right corner of the embedded workbook below. Open up the workbook in Tableau Public and start deconstructing! 

2

We will cover a lot of ground in just two hours. If you miss a step, don’t worry. Every drag and drop action we take building today’s visualizations is documented in this step-by-step guide. Feel free to download the PDF and reference it whenever it’s helpful.

3

The full version of Tableau Desktop is completely free for all students. If this happens to be you, click here to register for your free, one-year license. The full version of Tableau allows you to connect to a variety of data sources and save locally.

DATA VISUALIZATION EXAMPLES

Check out the links to all the projects you see during the workshop.

SMALL MULTIPLES

THE HISTORY OF THE NFL
MATT CHAMBERS

MAP

THE AGE OF BORDERS
PISSEGURI82

FREQUENCY CHART

WHOSE HERITAGE
SOUTHERN POVERTY
LAW CENTER

ANALOG

DEAR DATA
GIORGIA LUPI &
STEFANIE POSAVEC

POLYGONS

ENDANGERED SAFARI
RJ ANDREWS

THANK YOU

We’d love to hear your thoughts about today’s workshop.

YOUR FEEDBACK

Data Dozen is on a mission of continuous improvement. We’re eager to incorporate your feedback as we build future workshops. Click the survey below to answer a few quick questions. Thank you!

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