Tableau for Data Visualization

University of Utah

Date: May 8, 2025 & May 9, 2025

Time: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm MDT

Location: Digital Matters - MLIB 2751

Instructor: Kaylee Alexander, PhD

Registration: Registration costs $60/person (to be paid through UMarketplace via chartfield or credit card). Use this link to sign up for this workshop.

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General Information

What: This two-day workshop provides an introduction to Tableau, a powerful and user-friendly data visualization tool that helps users analyze, explore, and present data. Participants will learn how to connect to datasets and create interactive visualizations (including maps) and dashboards to generate clear visual insights for research and coursework; we will also cover sharing to Tableau Public. By the end of the session, participants will have gained hands-on experience building and customizing visualizations to effectively communicate their data.

Who: This workshop is intended for students and faculty in any discipline who want to develop foundational data visualization skills.

Requirements: No prior experience is required, but attendees must bring their own laptop with Tableau Desktop installed and running prior to the workshop. Students and faculty can register for a free license, but please note that faculty licenses may take a few days to be approved.

Contact: Please email Andrew George (andrew.george@hsc.utah.edu) for more information.

Schedule

Note that the schedule below serves as a guideline. The start, end, and break times are fixed, but timing for each of the topics covered may vary as we may go faster or slower through the content.

Day 1: Introduction & Core Concepts

Topic Details
9:00am Introduction & Setup
  • Overview of Tableau
  • Installing and launching Tableau
  • Understanding the Tableau interface
  • Importing data sources and getting started
    		•
    9:30am Building Basic Visualizations
  • Creating bar charts, line charts, and scatter plots
  • Filters, groups, and sorting
  • Changing colors, fonts, and style
    		•
    10:30am Break
    10:45am Dashboards & Interactivity
  • Creating dashboards
  • Adding filters, actions, and tooltips
  • Best practices for dashboard design
    		•
    11:45am Break
    12:00pm Hands-On Practice and Q&A
  • Participants build their own visualizations
  • Troubleshooting common issues
    		•

    Day 2: Advanced Features

    Time Topic Details
    9:00am Recap & Questions
  • Quick review of key concepts and time for questions
    		•
    9:15am Advanced Visualizations
  • Data connections and joins
  • Dual-axis charts, maps, and custom visuals
    		•
    10:15am Break
    10:30am Calculated Fields & Parameters
  • Creating calculated fields
  • Using parameters for dynamic dashboards
    		•
    11:15am Storytelling with Data
  • Creating effective dashboards for data storytelling
  • Adding videos, images, and custom backgrounds
  • Dashboards for data exploration
    		•
    11:45pm
    12:00pm Hands-On Practice and Q&A
  • Participants build a final dashboard
  • Peer feedback and discussion
    		•