Dashboard Design Essentials: Dashboard Layout & Formatting If you’re reading this post I guess you made it through Part I of the Dashboard Design Essentials series! If you haven’t already read that post, make sure to check it out as … Read More
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Dashboard Design Essentials: Basics of Design
Dashboard Design Essentials: Basics of Design This post is the first in a series of posts aimed at providing resources to organizations and dashboard developers to help bring their dashboards to life regardless of what BI tool they use. Basic … Read More

Using M to Create a Custom Function for Web Scraping in Power BI
Using M to Create a Custom Function for Web Scraping Last month I posted a blog to my website titled Web Scraping in Power BI that showed users how to connect to web data in Power BI using a report that I … Read More

So You Want to Build Alteryx Macros (Part 2)
So You Want to Build Alteryx Macros (Part 2) This is Part 2 of a four-part series covering macros in Alteryx. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to build a standard macro in Alteryx. In a previous job, … Read More

Web Scraping in Power BI
Web Scraping in Power BI Scraping data from a website in Power BI is SO EASY. Let me say it one more time. Grabbing data from a website’s HTML in Power BI is so ridiculously easy it’ll make you mad. … Read More

Six Uses for a Transparent Shape in Tableau
Six Uses for Transparent Shapes in Tableau Sometimes you need to include custom shapes for your visualizations. One useful trick in Tableau is including a completely transparent, single-pixel image as a shape on dashboards and worksheets. This shape is extremely … Read More

Snowflake/Tableau Hackathon
First (Hopefully Annual) Snowflake / Tableau Hackathon This past Wednesday, Tessellation / Data Coach partnered with the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota to host a hackathon event, using Snowflake and Tableau as the core tools. Around … Read More
How to LAG in Tableau Prep
How to LAG in Tableau Prep In a recent project, we wanted to know: Is the average number of days between orders increasing or decreasing across the company? The questions behind that question are: What is the number of days … Read More

Tableau’s New Relationships and What They Mean
Tableau’s New Relationships and What They Mean The release of Tableau 2020.2 has a lot of cool new features, but perhaps none are more game changing than the implementation of relationships into the data model. There have been many conversations … Read More
Getting COVID-19 Data from the Web with Tableau Prep
How to webscrape COVID-19 using Tableau Prep This blogpost is upcoming but I wanted to provide those from the GovTUG access to it early! Tableau Prep Workflow Get JHU Data – R Script Calculate Daily values – R Script Calculate … Read More

So you Want to Build Alteryx Macros (Part 1)
So You Want to Build Alteryx Macros (Part 1) I was first introduced to Alteryx in January 2019 and instantly recognized the incredible power of the tool. If I had Alteryx in previous jobs, it would have saved me from … Read More

Top Five : Power BI Features That Will (Tab)Blow Your Mind
Top Five Power BI Features That Will (Tab) Blow Your Mind There are a ton of cool features in Power BI that you may not be familiar with, even if you have been using the tool for a long time. … Read More

Analytic Process Automation: Why APA is not just for Alteryx
Analytic Process Automation (APA) Here to stay, and why this matters to you Warning: hyperlinks and references to space travel await you… Since you’re reading this, it’s very likely you saw Alteryx’s huge announcement last week of their launch of … Read More

Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau, Part 5: Headers
Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau: Headers Part 5: Custom Headers When you think about tables in general, we often don’t think about the importance that the header provides. The header can be more than a title. It can provide … Read More

Using Custom Shapes in Tableau
Using Shapes in Tableau If you’re like me, nothing excites me like bringing a dashboard to life using proper shapes and colors. In this blog post I will show you three different techniques on how to implement shapes into your … Read More

Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau, Part 4: Filtering
Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau: Filtering with Tables Part 4: Filters with Tables So you’ve built a table. That probably means you need a bunch of filters to go with the table. These filters can be cumbersome, steal valuable … Read More

Top Five : Things I’ve Learned About Tableau Recently
Things I’ve Learned About Tableau Recently I like to think I know a lot about Tableau but when I read a post by Ken Flerlage, or see a #WorkoutWednesday by Luke Stanke, I realize there is so much more to … Read More

TEXT INPUT | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
TEXT INPUT | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS This week, we are going to learn how to use the Text Input tool to bring in simple, usually one-time, data sets into your workflow. Yep. I am excited too. The Text Input Tool … Read More

Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau, Part 3: Row Density
Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau: Row Density Part 3: Row Density In this post we continue our ultimate guide to tables in Tableau by discussing how to change the number of rows displayed in a table using Tableau. As … Read More

Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau, Part 2: Pagination
Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau: Pagination Part 1: Pagination In this post we continue our ultimate guide to tables in Tableau by discussing how to create pagination in Tableau. Sometimes our tables are too long in Tableau–and sometimes we … Read More

AGGREGATE CONSUMER PURCHASES | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #8 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT
AGGREGATE CONSUMER PURCHASES | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #8 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT In this week’s challenge, our goal is to take a large table of consumer orders and aggregate them to evaluate the feasibility of creating a new “meal deal.” … Read More

Alteryx’s Output Data Tool
Alteryx’s Output Data Tool You’ve spent most of your time so far automating your data wrangling, so where do you go from here? The Output Data tool! The Output Data Tool Check Out the 2-Minute Tool Playlist!

HISTOGRAM | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
SCATTERPLOT | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS This week, we are going to continue with the data investigation and visualization theme. Like the scatter plot last week, we can use the Histogram tool in Alteryx to look at our data. Specifically, this … Read More

Alteryx’s Record ID Tool
Alteryx’s Record ID Tool “Chicka Chicka Yeah, RecordID RecordID” – McLovin'[Data] Not having an ID on your Record getting you down? Just use the Record ID tool! The Record ID Tool Check Out the 2-Minute Tool Playlist!

Alteryx’s Tool Container Tool
Alteryx’s Tool Container Tool The tools in your workflow getting away from ya a bit? Put ’em in a box, using the Tool Container tool! The Tool Container Tool https://youtu.be/QAfOYyPLpSI Check Out the 2-Minute Tool Playlist!

SCATTERPLOT | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
SCATTERPLOT | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS One of the best things about Alteryx is the ability to easily investigate your data. We are going to talk about one of my favorites, the Scatterplot tool. As you can image, you use the … Read More
How to Grow Your Analytics Career
Five Steps to Finding Your Next Role There is no doubt that COVID-19 has affected everyone and every area of business. The analytics community has had a unique spotlight cast upon it from many people who, maybe for the first … Read More

PARSING VIDEO GAME DATA | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #207 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT
PARSING VIDEO GAME DATA | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #207 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT In this challenge, we’ve been provided with a list of video game data. Unfortunately, the data is all in one column, so we must use Text To Columns … Read More

HOTEL RESERVATIONS | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #206 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT
HOTEL RESERVATIONS | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #206 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT Given a list of hotel bookings, the goal for this challenge is to calculate the average length of each stay and count the number of reservations per month. In … Read More

ANALYTICS RANKING | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #9 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT
Analytics Ranking | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #9 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT In this weekly challenge, the goal is to create a ranking field that accounts for ties. The most challenging part of this problem is using the Multi-Row Formula tool to … Read More

Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx: Basic Data Prep | Extras, Governance, Price
Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx Designer: Basic Data Preparation Part 4: Pricing, Governance, and other features If you missed the rest of the series, start here! Though Tableau Prep and Alteryx have some differences in breadth and depth of product functionality, … Read More

How to build a sales funnel in Tableau: #WOW2019 – Week 14 Solution
How to build a sales funnel in Tableau: Workout Wednesday – Week 14 Solution We’re in the middle of a lockdown and my audio driver is broken on my laptop so this week’s video solution is just a blog post. … Read More

SPATIAL ROUTE | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #6 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT
SPATIAL ROUTE | WEEKLY CHALLENGE #6 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT You’ve been handed a data set containing locations that different sales reps visits. Your goal is to map the route that each rep takes and calculate the distance traveled … Read More

Alteryx’s Multi-Row Formula Tool
Alteryx’s Multi-Row Formula Tool How can you talk with your data that’s not in the same row? The Multi-Row Formula tool! Your walk-talkie to communicate (and change!) data that’s up and down in your fields. The Multi-Row Formula Tool Check … Read More

SPATIAL INFO | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
SPATIAL INFO | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS Knowledge is power! But finding out additional information about your points, lines, and polygons on your maps can be difficult. It often involves some complicated calculations. Luckily, Alteryx has consolidated a number of common … Read More

How to Create a Range Parameter in Tableau
Improving Parameter Design: Part 9 Rethinking Slider Parameter Formatting in Tableau Welcome to the 9th post on improving parameter design in Tableau. So far we have discussed: how parameter formatting hasn’t improved over time and gave one possible design solution … Read More

Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx: Basic Data Prep | Joining, Transformation, and Output (Part 3)
Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx Designer: Basic Data Preparation Part 3: Joining, Transformation, and Output This is Part 3, consider starting at Part 1! Though Tableau Prep and Alteryx have some differences in breadth and depth of product functionality, many look … Read More

Alteryx’s Summarize Tool
Alteryx’s Summarize Tool Slice and dice to your heart’s content! Just like a Pivot Table in Excel, the Summarize tool lets us aggregate our data into a more concise level of detail. The Summarize Tool Check Out the 2-Minute Tool … Read More

Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau (Part 1)
Ultimate Guide to Tables in Tableau Part 1: The Introduction Quick without thinking too much about it answer the following questions: What chart type is used the most when displaying data? What chart type is the hardest to design? What … Read More

POLY-BUILD | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
POLY-BUILD | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS This month ended about being spatial themed, which wasn’t the plan, but I am going to roll with it. To continue that trend, we are going to learn how to create lines and shapes on … Read More

HR POSITION FINDER APPLICATION | ALTERYX WEEKLY CHALLENGE #5 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT
HR POSITION FINDER APPLICATION | ALTERYX WEEKLY CHALLENGE #5 | I CAN ALTERYX THAT Your company has an HR hierarchy full of employee numbers. Your goal is to build an analytic app so that a user can select an employee … Read More

Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx: Basic Data Prep | Data Cleansing (Part 2)
Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx Designer: Basic Data Preparation Part 2: Data Cleansing If you missed Part 1, start here! Though Tableau Prep and Alteryx have some differences in breadth and depth of product functionality, many look to the two products … Read More

Alteryx’s Union Tool
Alteryx’s Union Tool The Union tool — it’s in your Alteryx workflow’s DNA! Enjoy this video which talks about stacking that data into one unified stream, using the Union tool! The UnionTool Check Out the 2-Minute Tool Playlist!

Five Ways to Communicate Data When the Stakes Are High
Creating clear visualizations when time is scarce. The keys are to move quickly, add context, don’t get fancy, avoid baseless information and get feedback. … Read More

DISTANCE | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
DISTANCE | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS We have covered a lot of the basics in 2-Minute tools at this point. Now its time to do something a little more complicated in Alteryx. See? Catherine O’Hara believes in you. That means you … Read More

Understanding Dice Probability
Understanding Dice Probability I love playing board games and I definitely love winning. Beating your friends at Settlers of Catan is one of the sweetest victories you can experience in your life. One of the key components is to understand … Read More

How to build Interactive Legends in Tableau
Improving Parameter Design: Part 8 How to create an interactive legend in Tableau Welcome to the 8th post on improving parameter design in Tableau. So far we have discussed: how parameter formatting hasn’t improved over time and gave one possible … Read More

Alteryx’s Sort Tool
Alteryx’s Sort Tool When it comes to sorting in Alteryx, this tool can lead to delight or despair. Take a look at this week’s video all about the Sort tool! The Sort Tool Check Out the 2-Minute Tool Playlist!

Tableau vs. Alteryx: Basic Data Prep | Input and Data Investigation (Part 1)
Tableau Prep vs. Alteryx Designer: Basic Data Preparation Part 1: Input and Data Investigation Tableau Prep and Alteryx Designer are key players on the data prep market. Tableau Prep is a more recent release that is now packaged with the … Read More

CREATE POINTS | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS
CREATE POINTS | ALTERYX 2-MINUTE TOOLS If you are an aspiring cartophile like myself, you want to fit maps into your analysis. But guess what? Not every tool has mapping capabilities. The solution, run it through Alteryx! I know. I … Read More