The latest version of Tableau came onstream today and as ever the data visualization tool is wowing us with its top new features in Tableau 2020.1.
At The Information Lab Ireland, we have been lucky enough to be able to test the new features in beta and in this post our consultant, Daniel Ling, will chat us through some of the features that have really caught his attention.
Every new release of Tableau brings new and exciting features across the product. These features help improve and extend functionality while making user experience better for creating analysis or consuming content.
Top 5 features of Tableau 2020.1
Tableau 2020.1 doesn’t disappoint. Of the twenty-five new features added in the latest iteration are Dynamic Parameters, improved Transitions/Animations, Customizable Discover Pane for Tableau Desktop, Play Button in the Browser as well as Level of Detail Calculations in Prep Builder.
What are Dynamic Parameters and why are they useful?
Parameters are really powerful ways of interacting with your data. As well as using them to highlight certain dimensions, you can perform calculations and logic with them.
In previous versions of Tableau parameters were static. This meant that if you created a parameter for the subcategories your company sells and then use that to drive a colouring or filtering, the workbook would need to be manually updated each time your company added a new sub-category.
This might sound like a small issue, but if faced with the same issue across multiple workbooks, or at the product level you were potentially losing quite a lot of time.
Dynamic parameters can now be set so that the list or range the parameter covers is dynamically updated each time the workbook is opened based upon the data under the covers.
Bring Data to Life with Transitions/Animations in Tableau 2020.1
Viz animations improve user experience both when creating and consuming data visualizations. Animations help you tell more engaging stories with your data.
Filtering, sorting, adding fields and other actions now all feature smooth animations as data is dynamically brought in and out of the view.
Previously, data points would quickly disappear from view. With fully customisable animations, the data points appear and disappear smoothly.
Example of customisable Viz Animations can be seen below
Customizable Tableau Desktop Discover Pane
Currently, the Tableau Desktop Discover Pane, the first pane you see when opening the program, is the same for all users.
Now, with a customizable discover pane, you can amend what users see when they open Tableau. This means you can show users company specific information such as links to internal user groups and internal web pages.
This will help organisations to tailor their Tableau Desktop Discover Pane and can help users find information on getting started, where to go for help, best practices and much more.
Play Button in the Browser
With Tableau 2020.1, you can now share animated visualizations in the browser. Previously, Tableau Desktop was the only place you could use the pages shelf and animate a viz to tell a story based over time or across data dimensions.
Now with 2020.1, users will be able to click play in the browser and watch as visualisations change and lead them through a data driven story. (this is great well done)
Most people in the data visualization area will be aware of the excellent work of Hans Rosling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVimVzgtD6w). The new feature of Tableau 2020.1 will allow data analysts and storytellers to recreate and share visualizations like this.
Level of Detail Calculations in Prep Builder.
One of our top five features is from Tableau Prep Builder which has had a staggering 105 new features added since its first release.
One that we are excited about, is the ability to create level of detail (LOD) calculations. This can move some of the heavier lifting out of Tableau Desktop and into Tableau Prep Builder, further securing governed data sets and aligning companies to use one version of the truth.
An LOD is a calculation used to create a value at a specific level of detail within the data. An example being, what are the sales for each county in Ireland. This calculation can then be appended to each row and used for subsequent calculations such as, What proportion of each Counties Sales come from each store in that County?
Who/What is…?
The Information Lab (“TIL”) is a Gold resale partner of Tableau and Alteryx and offers related consulting and training across seven territories in Europe. TIL has offices in Ireland, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Clients include Coca-Cola, Close Bros Bank, PepsiCo, Deloitte, UBS, Solar Turbines & Boston Consulting Group. The Information Lab has worked with Close Brothers Bank to support their use of Alteryx for compliance with IFRS 9.
The Information Lab Ireland is at the forefront of creating a data-driven culture in Ireland. As part of our vision, we regularly host free events throughout the country to show how being data-driven can improve decision making and lead to a better understanding of the world around us.
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