Let’s start with defining Tableau. Tableau is a business intelligence software designed for visualisation. Data visualisations or in short, vizzes are designed using the Tableau Public app and are then published and shared via the Tableau Public portal.  The product is developed by Tableau Software Ltd, based in Seattle and founded in 2003. Since 2019, the company has been owned by Salesforce.

For more information about the components of the product ecosystem in Tableau, you can explore their website.

To download the app, you will need to search on your browser for Tableau Public. The first search result will take you to a webpage where you can register with your name, email address (personal or work) and the country you are in. Once downloaded, run the executable file and you will be set up very quickly!

Tableau Public workflow

The general workflow in Tableau Public involves four steps:

• Connect to a data source or sources.
• Using the data source options, configure the data source and relationships.
• Create vizzes using the canvas, shelves and cards.
• Publish and share.

| Image: A Tableau Public workflow |

Tableau workbooks and confidentiality

Tableau workbooks are collections of visualisations (e.g., worksheets, dashboards, stories) and can be built from one or many data sources, for the purposes of one or many projects. When published, these vizzes of data are shared on Tableau Public, which is why this is only a good solution for non-confidential data! There is another product, Tableau Desktop, which is licensed and is used by organisations to author and share data and visuals securely.

Next, you will learn about the types of data sources and data connections.