Data Visualization is often deemed to be linked with coding skills, intimidating any aspiring Data Analyst who’s just starting out. But is it really the case? (OR were we seriously misinformed on our odds of stepping into a data-driven career?). Tableau is one of the fastest growing Business Intelligence and Data Visualization tools that is easier to learn, faster to execute and gives far more intuitive and explanatory visuals to the onlookers. And predominantly due to this user-friendliness while giving the ability to create classy visuals, many organizations have shifted to using Tableau or PowerBI as their primary Data Analysis software from previously code-dominant software. Hence the dire need to hone our Data Visualization skills via booming software like these is constantly pressed upon by the corporate domain. Contrary to popular belief, mastering a certain skill doesn’t always have to be hard or take years. This is precisely the point that we proved by the Introduction to Tableau session we had on 23rd Friday, July 2021 from 5.00pm onwards.
The session was conducted by Mr.Janith Wanniarachchi, President of the Statistics Society of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Trainee Data Analyst at Trabeya. He has several years of experience in visualizing and obtaining feedback on his visualizations through the R for Data Science Community. In this session, the main focus was to help the participants get an overall idea of the functionalities available within Tableau through hands-on demonstrations. In the first half of the webinar, the newly released Tableau Viz (Beta) was demonstrated. The Tableau Viz (Beta) allowed Tableau users to create visualizations through their web browser without needing to install the Tableau Public software. The CO2 emissions of different countries were used to demonstrate the basic functionalities of connecting data, creating worksheets and arranging sheets in dashboards to be shared eventually. This demonstration slightly graced the fundamental functionalities as the Tableau Viz feature was still in Beta level of testing.
The next demonstration started by using the dataset on the profitability of Hollywood movies. The dataset contained a small number of rows but the columns were rich in information. However this demonstration carried some twists and spontaneity, the demonstrations were done with the suggestions from the audience and moreover, through them different functionalities of Tableau were also explored such as calculated fields, grouping, dual axis etc. along with the mechanisms of sharing Tableau dashboards.
As we reach the end of the visualization workshop series leading into Pearl Viz ‘21 (the Data Visualization competition organized by the Statistics Society of University of Sri Jayewardenepura), our heartiest gratitude goes to Dr. Rajitha Silva, Senior Treasurer of the Statistics Society of University of Sri Jayewardenepura for motivating and guiding us to focus on having this session, Mr. Janith Wanniarachchi for dedicating his time and energy to sharing the knowledge he acquired with anyone and everyone who were interested, the Pearl Viz Team for organizing this event, along with the Statistics Society Top Board and Committee for being a massive strength behind this webinar. If you are currently an undergraduate of Faculty of Applied Science of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, we would highly recommend that you take part in Pearl Viz, a data visualization competition where you can use data to tell the story that you see using tools that we have taught in these webinars. As parting words, we will leave you this message to remind you that while webinars are a good way to get a head start, self learning can go a long way and sharing what you learn with the community can be immensely helpful.
Slides are available at;
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1J8w4TxAVanPy7j0NuhyZaYCfq8GnGnPq3O7clczRrso/edit?usp=sharing
Written by : Maleesha Panangala
Editor
Statistics Society of University of Sri Jayewardenepura
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