The Big Book of Dashboards: A Comprehensive Guide to Building Effective Business Dashboards

The Big Book of Dashboards: Visualizing Your Data Using Real-World Business Scenarios
The Big Book of Dashboards: Visualizing Your Data Using Real-World Business Scenarios

As a data enthusiast, you know that creating an effective dashboard is not just about presenting data, it’s about communicating insights and making data-driven decisions. That’s why I’ve chosen The Big Book of Dashboards (BBoD) for our #datamustread book club. Written by Andy Cotgreave, Steve Wexler, and Jeffrey Shaffer, this book is a comprehensive reference that provides real-world solutions for building effective business dashboards.

Let’s dive into what makes this book so valuable for data enthusiasts.

Real-world solutions for building effective business dashboards

The BBoD covers dozens of examples that address different industries and departments, such as healthcare, transportation, finance, human resources, marketing, customer service, and sports, among others. It also covers different platforms, including print, desktop, tablet, smartphone, and conference room displays. With this book as your guide, you’ll be able to match great dashboards with real-world business scenarios.

Practical and effective visualization examples in The Big Book of Dashboards

The book is organized based on scenarios and offers practical and effective visualization examples. You’ll find an entire section of the book devoted to addressing many practical and psychological factors you will encounter in your work. The expert authors have combined 30-plus years of hands-on experience helping people in hundreds of organizations build effective visualizations. They bring uncommon empathy to help you, the reader of this book, survive and thrive in the data visualization world.

Tools, guidance, and models to produce great dashboards

The BBoD gives you the tools, guidance, and models you need to produce great dashboards that inform, enlighten, and engage. A well-designed dashboard can point out risks, opportunities, and more, but common challenges and misconceptions can make your dashboard useless at best, and misleading at worst. This book will help you avoid those challenges and produce dashboards that truly make a difference.

Examples of modern, effective designs

What sets The Big Book of Dashboards apart from its peers is that it contains a number of examples of modern, effective designs. The examples are of good visualizations, rather than bad, and this focus means that the reader is exposed to a vast range of quality content, rather than endless examples of what „not to do.“

Order The Big Book of Dashboards Today

Once you’ve read the BBoD, you’ll want to keep it nearby as a guide for your data visualization projects. The book provides 20+ high-quality dashboards based on all kinds of data from different industries, with detailed explanations of why certain chart types, layouts, and colors were used, why they work well, why other choices were not good enough, and what could be changed to make the dashboard even better.

Order your copy of The Big Book of Dashboards (BBoD) today with this link that supports both me and the authors. Also, comment on my LinkedIn post below for a chance to enter our book giveaway. Happy reading!

Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for more insights, and don’t forget to check out my new book Decisively Digital: From Creating a Culture to Designing Strategy, which dives deep into digital transformation.

9 Key Elements of a Successful Data Strategy for Business Growth

Get the Competitive Edge with Decisively Digital - The Ultimate Guide to Data Strategy
Get the Competitive Edge with Decisively Digital – The Ultimate Guide to Data Strategy

Data is a valuable asset that can give businesses a competitive edge and drive growth in today’s digital age. But without a clear and well-defined data strategy, companies risk missing out on the benefits that data provides. To help your business succeed in the digital world, here’s an overview of nine essential elements of a comprehensive data strategy.

    1. Goals and Objectives: Define specific goals and objectives that the company wants to achieve through its data efforts, such as improving customer experiences or optimizing business processes.
    2. Data Sources: Identify the most valuable data types and determine where they will come from, such as internal transaction or customer data and external market research.
    3. Data Management and Storage: Outline how data will be collected, organized, and stored consistently, accurately, and compliantly, with data management tools and technologies.
    4. Data Analysis and Reporting: Define how data will be analyzed and used to inform business decisions, with data visualization tools, dashboards, and reporting systems.
    5. Data Governance: Establish clear roles and responsibilities for data management, guidelines for data use and access, and ensure ethical and regulatory compliance.
    6. Data-driven Culture: Foster a data-driven culture by providing training and resources for data-driven decision making.
    7. Data Security and Privacy: Ensure data is collected, stored, and used securely and in compliance with privacy regulations.
    8. Data Integration and Interoperability: Define how data will be integrated and shared across systems and platforms.
    9. Data Quality and Accuracy: Ensure data is accurate and up-to-date, with processes for data cleansing and enrichment.

A data strategy is a must-have tool for any company that wants to fully realize the benefits of its data. It provides a clear roadmap for data collection, management, and analysis and helps organizations make better use of their data, drive growth, and succeed in today’s digital world. Get more insights and in-depth information by reading the book Decisively Digital (on Amazon).

Tableau Calculated Field: 20 Essential Tricks for Your Tableau Dashboards – A Comprehensive Guide

Tableau Calculated Field tips: Even more Tableau tricks in these books: “Datenvisualisierung mit Tableau” and “Visual Analytics with Tableau”
Tableau Calculated Field tips: Even more Tableau tricks in these books: “Datenvisualisierung mit Tableau” and “Visual Analytics with Tableau”

Tableau’s Calculated Field feature is at the core of its capabilities, offering powerful data manipulation and insights. In this post, we’ll explore 20 ultimate tricks to elevate your Tableau dashboards with calculated fields. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, these Tableau Calculated Field tips will unlock the full potential of Tableau.

20 Ultimate Tableau Calculated Field Tricks – Simply Explained

  1. 📊 Summing Based on Conditions
    Calculate the sum of sales for a specific region:
    IF [Region] = "West" THEN SUM([Sales Amount]) END
    Great for targeted analysis!
  2. 🔗 Accessing Related Data
    Grab related product names:
    ATTR([Product Name])
    Simplifies data relationships!
  3. 🧠 Row Context Calculations
    Calculate sales amount per Sales ID:
    {FIXED [Sales ID]: SUM([Sales Amount])}
    Unlock the power of context!
  4. 🏅 Ranking Values
    Rank sales amounts in descending order:
    RANK(SUM([Sales Amount]), 'desc')
    See who’s on top!
  5. 🧮 Safe Division
    Avoid division by zero:
    IF [Total Units] != 0 THEN [Total Sales] / [Total Units] END
    No more errors!
  6. 🔄 Multiple Conditions
    Use CASE for multiple conditions:
    CASE [Rating] WHEN 1 THEN "Poor" WHEN 2 THEN "Average" WHEN 3 THEN "Good" ELSE "Unknown" END
    Keep it clean!
  7. 🚫 Removing Filters
    Exclude filters from a calculation:
    {EXCLUDE [Sales]: SUM([Sales Amount])}
    Take control of your filters!
  8. 🧵 String Aggregation
    Concatenate product names:
    CONCATENATE([Product], ", ")
    String it together!
  9. 📆 Year-Over-Year Comparisons
    Calculate the difference in years:
    DATEDIFF('year', [Date], TODAY())
    Time travel with data! #Tableau #Analytics
  10. 🕳️ Handling Missing Data
    Replace zeros with NULL:
    IF [Sales Amount] = 0 THEN NULL ELSE [Sales Amount] END
    Clean up those blanks!
  11. 🎨 Custom Date Formatting
    Format dates your way:
    DATEPARSE("MMM-YYYY", [Sales Date])
    Make dates work for you!
  12. 🎯 Single Value Validation
    Check for a single unique value:
    IF COUNTD([Region]) = 1 THEN [Region] ELSE "Multiple Regions" END
    Validate with ease!
  13. 🕵️‍♀️ Filter Detection
    Detect if a field is filtered:
    IF SIZE() > 1 THEN "Filtered" ELSE "Not Filtered" END
    Be a filter detective!
  14. 📈 Maximum Values in a Table
    Find the max sales amount:
    WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Sales Amount]))
    Reach the peak!
  15. 📉 Minimum Values in a Table
    Find the min sales amount:
    WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Sales Amount]))
    Find the floor!
  16. 🧮 Counting Rows in a Table
    Count rows in a table:
    SIZE()
    Count on it!
  17. 🎲 Counting Unique Values
    Count unique products:
    COUNTD([Product])
    Uniqueness counts!
  18. 🔍 Lookup Scenarios
    Check if a product exists:
    IF CONTAINS([Product], "Product A") THEN "Exists" ELSE "Does Not Exist" END
    Look it up!
  19. 📊 Creating a Series of Numbers
    Generate a series of numbers:
    INDEX()
    Count it out!
  20. 📝 Conditional Formatting
    Apply conditional formatting based on sales performance:
    IF SUM([Sales Amount]) > 10000 THEN "High" ELSEIF SUM([Sales Amount]) > 5000 THEN "Medium" ELSE "Low" END
    Visualize performance at a glance!

Even More Tableau Tricks

📚 If you want to dive even deeper into the world of Tableau, check out my Tableau books 🔗 Visual Analytics with Tableau (Amazon) and 🔗 Datenvisualisierung mit Tableau (Amazon)! These books are packed with even more Tableau Calculated Field tips, tricks, and tutorials to help you master Tableau. Don’t miss out on these invaluable resources!

Want to stay updated with the latest Tableau insights? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn. Share your thoughts, ask questions, and engage with a community of Tableau enthusiasts like yourself.

Feel free to leave a comment, ask questions, or share these Tableau tweets:

Tableau Berechnungen: 20 Unverzichtbare Tricks für deine Dashboards

Tableau Berechnungen: Noch mehr Tableau Tricks in diesen Büchern: “Datenvisualisierung mit Tableau” and “Visual Analytics with Tableau”
Tableau Berechnungen: Noch mehr Tableau Tricks in diesen Büchern: “Datenvisualisierung mit Tableau” and “Visual Analytics with Tableau”

Möchten Sie Ihre Fähigkeiten in Tableau Berechnungen verbessern? Hier sind einige unserer Lieblings-Tricks, die Ihnen dabei helfen werden, Ihre Tableau Dashboards auf das nächste Level zu heben.

20 ultimative Tableau-Tricks für Ihre Tableau Berechnungen – einfach erklärt

  1. 📊 Summieren nach Bedingungen
    Berechne die Summe der Verkäufe für eine bestimmte Region:
    IF [Region] = "West" THEN SUM([Sales Amount]) END
    Tolle Analyse!
  2. 🔗 Zugriff auf verwandte Daten
    Hole verwandte Produktnamen:
    ATTR([Product Name])
    Vereinfacht Datenbeziehungen!
  3. 🧠 Zeilenkontext-Berechnungen
    Berechne den Verkaufsbetrag pro Verkaufs-ID:
    {FIXED [Sales ID]: SUM([Sales Amount])}
    Nutze den Kontext!
  4. 🏅 Werte Rangieren
    Rangiere Verkaufsbeträge in absteigender Reihenfolge:
    RANK(SUM([Sales Amount]), 'desc')
    Sieh, wer oben ist!
  5. 🧮 Sichere Division
    Vermeide Division durch Null:
    IF [Total Units] != 0 THEN [Total Sales] / [Total Units] END
    Keine Fehler mehr!
  6. 🔄 Mehrere Bedingungen
    Verwende CASE für mehrere Bedingungen:
    CASE [Rating] WHEN 1 THEN "Schlecht" WHEN 2 THEN "Durchschnittlich" WHEN 3THEN "Gut" ELSE "Unbekannt" END
    Halte es sauber!
  7. 🚫 Filter Entfernen
    Schließe Filter von einer Berechnung aus:
    {EXCLUDE [Sales]: SUM([Sales Amount])}
    Kontrolliere deine Filter!
  8. 🧵 String-Aggregation
    Verkette Produktnamen:
    CONCATENATE([Product], ", ")
    Füge es zusammen!
  9. 📆 Vergleiche mit dem Vorjahr
    Berechne den Unterschied in Jahren:
    DATEDIFF('year', [Date], TODAY())
    Zeitreise mit Daten!
  10. 🕳️ Umgang mit Fehlenden Daten
    Ersetze Nullen durch NULL:
    IF [Sales Amount] = 0 THEN NULL ELSE [Sales Amount] END
    Räume die Leerstellen auf!
  11. 🎨 Benutzerdefiniertes Datumsformat
    Formatiere Daten nach deinen Wünschen:
    DATEPARSE("MMM-YYYY", [Sales Date])
    Lass Daten für dich arbeiten! #Tableau #Datenvisualisierung
  12. 🎯 Validierung von Einzelwerten
    Überprüfe auf einen einzelnen eindeutigen Wert:
    IF COUNTD([Region]) = 1 THEN [Region] ELSE "Mehrere Regionen" END
    Validiere mit Leichtigkeit!
  13. 🕵️‍♀️ Filtererkennung
    Erkenne, ob ein Feld gefiltert ist:
    IF SIZE() > 1 THEN "Gefiltert" ELSE "Nicht Gefiltert" END
    Sei ein Filterdetektiv!
  14. 📈 Maximale Werte in einer Tabelle
    Finde den maximalen Verkaufsbetrag:
    WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Sales Amount]))
    Erreiche den Gipfel!
  15. 📉 Minimale Werte in einer Tabelle
    Finde den minimalen Verkaufsbetrag:
    WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Sales Amount]))
    Finde den Boden!
  16. 🧮 Zeilen in einer Tabelle Zählen
    Zähle Zeilen in einer Tabelle:
    SIZE()
    Zähle darauf!
  17. 🎲 Einzigartige Werte Zählen
    Zähle einzigartige Produkte:
    COUNTD([Product])
    Einzigartigkeit zählt!
  18. 🔍 Lookup-Szenarien
    Überprüfe, ob ein Produkt existiert:
    IF CONTAINS([Product], "Product A") THEN "Existiert" ELSE "Existiert Nicht" END
    Suche es!
  19. 📊 Erstellen einer Zahlenreihe
    Generiere eine Zahlenreihe:
    INDEX()
    Zähle es!
  20. 📝 Bedingte Formatierung
    Wende bedingte Formatierung basierend auf Verkaufsleistung an:
    IF SUM([Sales Amount]) > 10000 THEN "Hoch" ELSEIF SUM([Sales Amount]) > 5000 THEN "Mittel" ELSE "Niedrig" END
    Visualisiere Leistung auf einen Blick!

Noch mehr Tableau Tricks

📚 Wenn Sie noch tiefer in die Welt von Tableau eintauchen möchten, schauen Sie sich unsere Tableau Bücher an: 🔗 Datenvisualisierung mit Tableau (Amazon) und 🔗 Visual Analytics with Tableau (Amazon). Beide sind vollgepackt mit noch mehr Tipps, Tricks und Anleitungen, die Ihnen helfen, das Beste aus Ihren Tableau Dashboards herauszuholen.

Haben Sie Fragen oder Anregungen zu Tableau Berechnungen? Lassen Sie es uns gerne wissen, und vergessen Sie nicht, unsere Tableau-Tweets zu teilen:

Decisively Digital is the #1 Best-Selling Digital Transformation Book on Amazon

Decisively Digital is an Amazon Best Seller. Experience a completely rewired perspective on digital transformation with 'Decisively Digital', a book that intricately navigates the complexities of today's technological landscape.
Experience a completely rewired perspective on digital transformation with Decisively Digital, a book that intricately navigates the complexities of today’s technological landscape.

It’s been an incredible start to the year, and I’m overjoyed to announce that my book, Decisively Digital, has reached a significant milestone. It has risen to become the #1 bestselling book in the computer and technology industry on Amazon. This achievement is not only a personal victory but a reflection of the growing interest and need for knowledge in the field of digital transformation.

Navigating Digital Transformation with Decisively Digital

When I embarked on the journey of writing Decisively Digital, I was driven by a strong belief in the power of digital transformation. I was eager to share my wealth of knowledge and first-hand experience on how organizations, regardless of size or industry, can leverage digital technologies to drive growth and achieve unprecedented success.

I had the unique opportunity to conduct insightful interviews with thought leaders across industries, delving deep into the strategies and methodologies that have propelled them to the forefront of digital innovation. These conversations weren’t just enlightening, they were transformative, providing a holistic view of digital transformation that goes beyond the surface layers.

Empowering Readers in the Digital Age: A Rewired Approach

My vision for Decisively Digital has always been clear: to serve as a beacon of knowledge and inspiration for readers seeking to navigate the complexities of the digital age. The book is designed to empower you, giving you the tools and insights you need to harness the full potential of technology for your business or organization, effectively rewiring your approach to digital challenges.

As we stand at the crossroads of a digital revolution, Decisively Digital aims to be more than just a book. It is a guide, a companion, and a catalyst for change, encouraging readers to embrace digital transformation and drive innovation within their own spheres of influence. With a rewired mindset, you can unlock unprecedented opportunities and forge ahead confidently in this ever-evolving digital landscape.

A heartfelt thank you

I am deeply grateful for the overwhelming support that Decisively Digital has received. This accomplishment is not mine alone; it is a testament to the power of community, collaboration, and the indomitable spirit of innovation that resides within all of us.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to every reader, supporter, and advocate of Decisively Digital. It is your belief in the book’s message, and your commitment to advancing digital transformation, that has brought us to this remarkable milestone.

Join the Digital Transformation Movement

As we celebrate this achievement, I invite you to spread the word about Decisively Digital. Share your thoughts, experiences, and insights with the broader community. Together, we can continue to foster a culture of innovation, learning, and transformative growth.

Feel free to share this post, recommend the book to your network, and engage in conversations about digital transformation. Let’s continue to empower and inspire each other on this journey to a digitally savvy future: