A recap of the 2021 Tableau Conference, as presented to Atlanta TUG in December 2021.

1. TABLEAU CONFERENCE RECAP
Sarah Bartlett
@SarahLovesData
sarahlovesdata.com
#ATLTUG

2. Sarah Bartlett
Tableau Enablement @ Red Hat
2 x Tableau Zen Master
4 x Tableau Ambassador
Co-leader of London TUG
Founder of #IronQuest

3. Agenda
● New Product Features
● Iron Viz
● Must-See Sessions

4. 195
Countries
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113,094
Registrants
(up from 100,000 in 2020)
287
Braindates
990
Tableau
Doctor
Appointments
Completed
308
Session
Episodes
TC21 at a
Glance

5. NEW FEATURES | DEVS ON STAGE

6. Core Analytics Experience
Visualization Extensions - H2 2022
- Drag and drop extensions enable you to build complex
charts easily, without any complex calculations
- Viz extensions makes the process as easy as a few drag
and drops
- New mark types enable you to build new charts including:
- Flower
- Sunburst
- Donut
- Sankey diagram
- Chord diagram
- Fine-tune every component of the viz using the Mark
Designer to get the design you want
- Share templates via the Viz Gallery & download what
others have built so you can share in your own work

8. Dynamic Dashboard Layouts - H1 2022
- Highly customized, interactive dashboards can sometimes
be difficult to build and may currently require a few hacks
to bring everything together.
- Dynamic dashboard layouts use parameters placed on a
dashboard to control exactly what you see and when.
- Similar to show/hide containers, but operate using either
a parameter or calculated field.
- Can be tied to dashboard actions so you can control
exactly what your dashboard looks like.
- Use case example: when you want certain charts to show
only once you have drilled into a limited date range, not to
display immediately.
Core Analytics Experience

9. Core Analytics Experience
New ‘View Data’ Experience - H1 2022
- Often, users may need to click on a mark on your
dashboard in order to view a subset of the underlying
data.
- Tableau users frequently request more customization
and control of the ‘View Data’ experience; the pop-up
window which appears when you view the underlying
data from a mark in a dashboard.
- Newly designed ‘View Data’ window gives you (the
creator) full control over exactly what you see.
- In the row-level view you can remove columns, change
the order of columns, sort the data within columns, and
add additional fields (columns).
- Data can be downloaded from this experience to a CSV
which will maintain the design choices you have made.
- Future development: You (the dashboard creator) will
be able to publish a curated view data experience with
your dashboards so your end consumers will see the
row-level data, just as you intended.

10. Core Analytics Experience
Workbook Optimizer - 2021.4
- When publishing a workbook from Tableau Desktop,
you’ll see a new option to select that enables you to run
the Workbook Optimizer.
- The Optimizer will scan through your workbook and look
for potential areas to improve performance.
- It will provide suggestions on what could be improved,
broken down into 3 categories:
- Critical - things you absolutely should do since
these can severely impact workbook performance
- Warnings - things that could potentially impact
end users but are less adverse and can be fixed at
your discretion
- Passed - things that already meet the best practice
guidelines (no action required).
- Use Case: Quickly identify and correct issues with your
dashboard, prior to publishing, that could negatively
impact the end-user experience.

11. Core Analytics Experience

12. Core Analytics Experience
Data Change Radar - H1 2022
- This will monitor dashboards on Tableau Online/Server to see whether there have been any meaningful
data changes
- Different from subscription alerts; changes are shown as a visible icon on the dashboard preview window
- Constantly monitors your dashboards behind the scenes, making it easier to know when you have data
changes that require your attention.
First, an icon will show against a workbook to indicate that there has been a meaningful data change….

13. Core Analytics Experience
Data Change Radar - H1 2022
In the workbook, Tableau will show a list of
data changes in the Data Changes pane,
next to the dashboard.
- In this example, the Data Change Radar
has flagged that Sean Miller’s sales
were higher than predicted

14. Core Analytics Experience
Data Change Radar - H1 2022
We can see here that Explain Data provides
three possible explanations as to why Sean
Miller’s sales have increased:
- This is functionality currently available
in Explain Data today but when
combined with the Data Change Radar,
it’s even more powerful.
- This feature allows us to be notified of
significant data changes and
understand what changed and why,
without ever leaving the dashboard
experience.

15. Core Analytics Experience
Explain the Viz - H2 2022
Highlights which data points might be interesting for
users to explore, making it even easier for anyone to
explore and interact with their data.
Brings existing Explain Data functionality to the
dashboard level:
- Helpful for users who aren’t familiar with the data
or aren’t sure what they should be looking at on a
dashboard.
Clicking on the Discover button on the toolbar displays
the Discover pane on the right of the dashboard. This
provides suggestions on what you might want to focus
on first.

16. Core Analytics Experience
Explain the Viz - H2 2022
From the Discover pane, Tableau will take us into the
Explain Data experience for a particular mark.
However, unlike current functionality, this is shown in
the right-hand Discover pane, next to the dashboard.
Explain Data will also look at other dimensions not on
the dashboard to help explain what is happening with
the data.

17. TABLEAU PREP
Parameters in Tableau Prep - 2021.4
Parameters in Prep will help to make flows more flexible
and reduce any redundant work.
Parameters can be applied to input and output steps.
They can be used to filter data (in this example, genre),
and again when naming output results.
Currently, if you need to make small changes to only a
few values, you need to republish the entire flow. Now,
you can run flows for selected parameters only.
This can be useful if you need to run a flow multiple
times (i.e. once per genre) and end up with several
output files, each having a unique name. The parameter
allows you to change the output file name easily.

18. Server & Online
Slow View Load Requests - H1 2022
If you are a Tableau Admin, the latest resource monitoring tool
improvements will help you to quickly diagnose where things
are running slowly on Tableau Online.
- A new view will help to monitor dashboard load times
- Use to triage system issues and solve problems faster
- Works by taking all dashboard load times to establish a
baseline, then it will identify what’s running slowly or
what’s failed entirely.
- You can also set your own baseline; useful if you want to
monitor the impact of any changes
From this view, you can select a timeframe to drill-into to view
individual activities in more detail.

19. TABLEAU PUBLIC
Discover Page - Available Now!
Use the Discover page to find new or inspiring
content, discover new authors, and keep up to date
with what your favorite authors have published
recently.
It includes:
- Personalized recommendations from people you
follow, and people you don’t, based on your
interests
- Curated, topical channels featuring collections of
vizzes
Coming Soon (H1 2022) - Create your own channels,
based on your interests.

20. TABLEAU PUBLIC
HIRE ME BUTTON - Available Now!
● Many Tableau authors were already using
Tableau Public as a portfolio to help land projects
or find new employment opportunities.
● Tableau Public authors can indicate they’re
available for work, making it easier for hiring
managers and employers to find top talent.
● Hire Me button enables prospective employers or
organizations to email authors directly.

21. IRON VIZ

23. ● Theme: Music
● Data provided by Chartmetric
● Data set details: Global in scope, of nearly 200
million records spanning several years. It included
artist popularity, metadata, YouTube listening data,
and loads of Shazam history.
Iron Viz entries are scored against three key areas:
● Analysis
● Design
● Storytelling
Data Set & scoring criteria

24. Pradeep Kumar G | Music Discoveries
● Custom color palette for
artist pronoun.
● Analyses nearly 1,400 top
artists from 20 countries
to better understand
music discovery
behaviours across the
globe, using Shazam
weekly top charts data.
● Users can “find
themselves in the data”
and explore the
dashboard by their own
country or pronouns.

25. Lisa Trescott | Breakthrough aRTISTS
● Uses a logarithmic
scale to compare the
rank of artists.
● Focuses on three
breakthrough artists,
who stand out in the
initial analysis for
pulling themselves
from obscurity; Giveon,
The Kid Laroi, and
Olivia Rodrigo.

26. SAMUEL PARSONS | Influence of Tech on Music
● Analyzes how new
artists are establishing
themselves in the
Chartmetric top 100
rankings and how tech
directly impacts their
fortunes.
● Sam used collapsible
show/hide containers to
enable him to slowly
reveal a guided story.
● His data story
demonstrates the power
of TikTok over the music
industry and follows a
song’s path from a
TikTok post to becoming
a viral sensation.

27. ● Lisa is the only the 4th woman to reach a
global Iron Viz final; preceded by Lindsey
Poulter in 2019, Kelly Martin in 2013 & Anya
A’Hearn in 2012.
● A woman hadn’t won the competition since
Anya in 2012, 9 YEARS AGO!
Winner: Lisa Trescott 🎉

28. MUST-SEE SESSIONS

29. Catch up on what you missed!
tableau.com/events/conference

30. Tableau Speed Tips: Shortcuts and Tricks for All Skill Levels
Ann Jackson, Lorna Brown, Heide Kalbe
● A conference favourite & must-see!
● Fast-paced session, bursting with
mind-bending tips!
● Each presenter shares multiple
bite-sized tips which you can apply
in your own Tableau work.

31. Find Your Voice: How Community Builds Confidence
PRIYA PADHAM (PLUS GUESTS)
● Priya describes her Tableau
journey and welcomes familiar
community voices to share their
stories and advice too.
● A reminder of how diverse,
welcoming, and unique our
community is.

32. Minimalist Designs for Maximum Communication
CHIMDI NWOSU
● Chimdi started using Tableau Public
~12 months ago when he started
participating in #MakeoverMonday.
● His minimalistic design skills have
earned him 4 VOTD nominations & he
was a top 10 finalist in the 2021 Iron Viz
competition!
● In this session, he completes a live
build of his US Student Debt viz,
highlighting how a single chart can be
used to communicate multiple
messages.

33. The Performant-First Approach to Designing Efficient Workbooks
Ben Bausili (Interworks)
● Learn how to plan, create, and deploy
dashboards with efficiency and
performance in mind.
● In this session, Ben shares tips on how
we can design more efficient
workbooks, covering everything from
dashboard design, to efficient
calculations.

34. Inclusive Design: Making Dashboards Engaging, Informative, & Accessible
EMILY KUND
● Emily highlights the importance of
designing inclusive dashboards.
● Learn how inclusive design can help
everyone to access and understand
data, rather than excluding people.
● The tips and advice shared can be
implemented in your own work to
ensure that your dashboards are
accessible for all.

35. Know Your Audience: Designing Dashboards with the End User in Mind
Toni Pragov (iTech Media)
● One of my favourite sessions!
● Toni shared their experience of
creating dashboards that didn’t land
with their audience, whether due to
lack of data, mistrust in the data or
confusing designs that did not meet
the users needs.
● Learn tips that can help ensure your
dashboards are adopted by your
audience and get the point across,
effectively!

36. Make It Better: Tips for Better Dashboard Design
KEN & KEVIN FLERLAGE
● Ken & Kevin start this session by
sharing a less-than-perfect example of
a dashboard. Together, they ‘make it
over’ by redesigning each chart or
element.
● They explain why it wasn’t effective in
the original design and share
step-by-step tips and design hacks
they use to improve it.
● A must-watch if you are looking for
ways to improve your Tableau
dashboard designs!

37. SHHHH Secrets from the Experts
Sarah Bartlett, Thi Ho, Dzifa Amexo
● Learn more about Thi & Dzifa and how
they got involved in the Tableau
Community.
● Tips on how you can leverage the
community to improve your skills,
regardless of where you are on your
journey.
● Learn more about community
projects and find one that’s right for
you.

38. Tableau Zen Masters Share Their Best Advice (2-parts)
TABLEAU ZEN MASTERS
● Tableau Zen Masters shared their best
tips or words of advice in just
2-minutes each!
● Presentations include hands-on
Tableau tips or general advice to help
you on your Tableau journey.
● Great to see so many of the Zen’s
come together and share their unique
perspectives or useful tips that you
can apply in your own work.

39. Full Recap Post on my blog!
sarahlovesdata.co.uk

41. Thank you!
@SarahLovesData
sarahlovesdata.com