Preface      xiv
Acknowledgments      xxvi
About the Author      xxvii
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1. Welcome to Visual Analytics    1
A Visual Revolution      2
The Evolution from Data Visualization to Visual Data Storytelling      7
A Brief Look at the State of the Industry      9
From Visual to Story: Bridging the Gap      11
Summary      16
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2. The Power of Visual Analytics    17
The Science of Storytelling      18
     The Brain on Stories      19
     The Human on Stories      21
The Power of Stories      23
     The Classic Visualization Example      24
     Using Small Personal Data for Big Stories      26
     The Two-or-Four Season Debate      30
     Napoleon's March      32
     Stories Outside of the Box      34
Summary      35
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3. Getting Started with Tableau    37
Using Tableau      38
Why Tableau?       39
The Tableau Product Portfolio      42
     Tableau Desktop      43
     Tableau Server      43
     Tableau Cloud      44
     Tableau Prep      44
     Tableau Public         44
     Tableau Reader and Tableau Viewer      44
Getting Started        45
Installing Tableau Desktop      46
Connecting to Data      46
     Connecting to Table      48
     Live Versus Extract      51
     Connecting to Multiple Tables with Relationships and Joins      52
Adding and Replacing Data Sources      55
Basic Data Prep with Data Interpreter      57
Navigating the Tableau Interface      58
     Menus and Toolbar      59
     Data Pane      60
     Shelves and Cards      60
     Legends      60
Understanding Dimensions and Measures      61
     Dimensions      61
     Measures      61
     Continuous and Discrete      61
Summary      62
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4. Keeping Visual Analytics in Context    63
Context in Action      65
     Harry Potter: Hero or Menace?       66
     Ensuring Relevant Context      67
Exploratory Versus Explanatory Analysis      69
Structuring Visual Analytic Stories      73
     Story Plot      74
     Story Genre      75
Audience Analysis for Storytelling      76
     Who      77
     What      77
     Why      77
     How      78
Summary      80
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5. Fundamental Data Visualizations    81
The Bar Chart      83
     Tableau How-To: Bar Chart      84
The Line Chart      88
     Tableau How-To: Line Chart      91
Pie and Doughnut Charts      91
     Tableau How-To: Pie and Doughnut Charts      93
The Scatter Plot      98
     Tableau How-To: Scatter Plots      98
The Packed Bubble Chart      102
     Tableau How-To: Packed Bubble Charts      103
The Tree Map      105
     Tableau How-To: Tree Maps      106
The Heat Map      108
     Tableau How-To: Heat Maps        109
Summary      112
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6. Fundamental Maps    113
     Connecting to Geographic Data      116
     Assigning Geographic Roles      117
     Creating Geographic Hierarchies      120
     Proportional Symbol Maps      123
     Choropleth Map      127
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7. Design Tips for Curating Visual Analytics    133
Visual Design Building Blocks      136
Color      138
     Sequential Color      139
     Diverging Color      140
     Categorical Color      143
Color Effects      145
     Opacity        146
     Mark Borders      147
     Mark Halos      147
Pre-attentive Colors      148
Important Color Considerations      150
The Truth About Red and Green      151
Lines      153
     Formatting Grid Lines, Zero Lines, and Drop Lines      156
     Formatting Borders      160
Formatting, Shading, and Banding      163
Shapes      168
     Shape Marks Card      168
     Custom Shapes      169
Summary      173
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8. Structuring Analytics for Storytelling: Prep, Dashboards, and Stories    175
Basic Data Prep in Tableau: Data Interpreter      176
     Data Interpreter in Action      177
     Handling Nulls in Tableau      179
     Pivoting Data from Wide to Tall        182
     A Note on Preparing Survey Data for Visual Analysis      186
Storyboarding Your Visual Analytics      188
     Understanding Stories in Tableau      189
     The Storyboarding Process      198
Summary      200
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9. Beyond Fundamentals: Advanced Visualizations    201
Timelines      202
Bar-in-Bar Charts      210
Likert-Scale Visualizations      213
     A 100% Stacked Bar Chart      214
     Divergent Stacked Bar Chart      216
Lollipop Charts      226
     Labeled Lollipops      230
Word Clouds      231
Summary      234
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10. Closing Thoughts    235
Five Steps to Visual Data Storytelling      236
     Step 1. Find Data That Supports Your Story      236
     Step 2. Layer Information for Understanding      237
     Step 3. Design to Reveal      237
     Step 4. Beware the False Reveal      238
     Step 5. Tell It Fast      238
The Important Role of Feedback      238
Ongoing Learning      240
     Teach Yourself: External Resources      240
     Companion Materials to This Text      242
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Appendix A. Tableau Services      243
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Index      247
