Many views and dashboards you create for the purpose of sharing them with other people. Naturally you want to call attention to your findings, as well as help others investigate and discover their own findings. Although every view is different, there are a few best practices to consider as you’re in the earlier stages of creating your views. The tips provided here are easy places to start, and embedded Tableau Public views are included to show them in action.
Add interactivity to encourage exploration
Here are some tips for encouraging your viewers to explore and interact with the views.
Turn on quick filters
Quick filters enable viewers to specify which data is shown in the view. To turn on quick filters for any field, right-click the field in the Data window and select Show Quick Filter.
You can customize each quick filter for different types of data. For example, you can show quick filters as multi-select check boxes, single select radio buttons, drop-down lists, sliders, date pickers, and so on. You can also specify whether to include a search button, the option to show all fields, null controls, and more. Finally, you can edit the title of the quick filter to give your viewers clear instructions for interacting with the data. All of these customizations are available on the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the quick filter card.
Turn on highlighting
Use the Highlight button on the toolbar to set up highlighting between views. When highlighting is turned on, a selection in one view will highlight related data in the other views. You can turn on highlighting for all fields or select specific fields.
Make views more effective for your audience
Think about the view from your audience’s perspective. Is your message clear? Here are some best practices for effectively displaying data.
Use custom tooltips
You can specify what information is included in the tooltips that appear when a viewer selects a data point. To open tooltip information for editing, select Worksheet > Tooltip.
An advantage of custom tooltips is that you can remove unnecessary information or highlight key findings in the data.
The views below shows the default tooltip on the left and a custom tooltip on the right. Hover the pointer over a mark to see each. Notice how the custom tooltip calls attention only to the important information and uses formatting to add emphasis.
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Minimize distractions
Be careful to not let axes, labels, and formatting distract the view. Try a smaller font size and lighter text color to de-emphasize labels and let the data shine. Or format divider lines and borders to support the layout and data view type.
In the following image, you can see in the top view how text that is prominent and formatted in the same color and intensity as the bars clutter the view.
Make statements with titles and formatting
Use titles to state your findings, give context, or, as shown here, guide your audience through the dashboard.
If your dashboard has one main view with several details, consider using formatting to illustrate the hierarchy. This technique is useful particularly when you are building a guided analytical experience, in which views are hidden until a selection is made.
Use formatting as a visual aid to draw attention to the view rather than distract from it. To change the shading and border right-click a title and select Format Title. Double-click the title to open it in a rich text editor, where you can fine-tune the color, font style, and alignment.
Provide zoom controls
Zoom controls appear on hover on map views by default. However, if some portions of your non-map view are particularly concentrated, consider setting zoom controls to appear on hover on all views. For more information, see Zoom Controls in Tableau Desktop Help.
Control the sizing and layout
Consider how your dashboards will be viewed. Are you embedding them into a web page? What size screen is your audience using? Here are some tips for controlling dashboard size and layout.
Take advantage of dashboard objects and settings
To fine-tune the layout of a dashboard, you can do any of the following:
- Use horizontal or vertical layout containers to group related objects. To use them, drag them from the Dashboardwindow (callout A above).Items in a layout container align and flow together when the dashboard is resized. You can also nest them. In the Layout pane, expand the nesting hierarchy to see the dashboard structure (C).
- Determine whether you prefer components to tile in a fixed position in a layout container or float independently (B).As of Tableau 8.0, you can set objects to floating and position them in specific locations, including overlapping them.
Objects also provide ways to add independent text, images, and web pages to the dashboard.
To learn more, see Tiled and Floating Layouts and Adding Dashboard Objects in the Tableau Desktop Help.
Use Fixed Size Dashboards
Automatic sizing on a dashboard means that when the window is resized, all of the objects in the dashboard are resized too. When you share a dashboard with others, you can change this behavior so that it remains at a fixed size regardless of the size of the window.
When you are considering this choice, think about who will be viewing the dashboard and where. For example, if you are embedding it into a blog or a webpage, you probably know the width and height allowed by your page template.
Change the size of the dashboard at the bottom of the Dashboard window. You can select a standard size from the drop-down list or type a specific pixel height and width.
