Dual axis is a great yet succinct way of showing two sets of measures in contrasting or complementary styles. It is a must have in our viz design arsenal.

I noticed sometimes one may choose to use dual axis while it is not necessary. Here I try to share some thoughts about when to dual axis and when not to.

When not to dual axis

When needing to display two measures in the same chart, intuitively one starts using dual axis. Actually it is possible to display multiple measures using a single axis instead of dual:

Solution 1: Drag measures to one axis
http://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/online/mac/en-us/tips_multiplemeasures.html

Solution 2: The first solution is quick if you happened to have learnt to do so. For some of us, we may like to do it in logical steps:
- Step 1. Drag the Date dimension to column
- Step 2. Drag Measure Names to filter shelf and in the filter options, pick the measures you want to display
- Step 3. Drag Measure Values to row (you see a single line)
- Step 4. Drag Measure Names to Color shelf (you see one line per measure)



Now it's done. Note that there is a Measure Values shelf appeared after you put it in row. You can drag more measures to the shelf if you want to display more.

It is similar to the method in the article below, and a little different.
http://kb.tableausoftware.com/articles/knowledgebase/dynamicmeasures

When using a single axis, you are supposed to display all measures in a single chart type.

When to dual axis

The most likely usage of dual axis is for the purpose of displaying 2 groups of measures in 2 contrasting or complementary chart types. Thus, it is good to remember

Dual Axis = Dual Chart Types

Below is a chart mixing bar and line comparing sales and running totals (Pareto analysis) based on a single measure. It shows that the top 4 products account for 50% of total sales.



Because each chart type may have subtypes due to different settings, for example wide bars and narrow bars in the same chart, dual axis may be used to mix two subtypes of one same major chart type.

There are 11 major chart types in Tableau:


So theoretically there are 12x11/2 = 66 crossbred chart types using dual axis.

Caveat for Synchronizing Axis

Sometimes you may not be able to synchronize measures of Integer type. Converting your measures to float can solve the problem. Just use a calculated field:
float([Measure]) 
instead of using [Measure] directly.

Dual axis examples

People are getting creative using dual axis to create great visualizations. Dual axis opens a much uncharted territory in viz design. Here I found a plethora of dual axis designs.

- Bar + Line: it's classic
http://drawingwithnumbers.artisart.org/bars-and-lines/

- Map + Pie
http://kb.tableausoftware.com/articles/knowledgebase/creating-filled-maps-pie-charts

- Bar + Circle: Lollipop chart
http://gravyanecdote.com/andy-cotgreave/lollipop-charts/

- Line + Line: Slope chart
http://gravyanecdote.com/tableau/how-to-make-a-slope-chart-in-tableau/

- Filled Map + Circle
http://www.tableau.com/public/blog/2014/04/dual-axis-maps-2427

- Gantt + Gantt
http://wannabedatarockstar.blogspot.com/2014/05/dual-axis-gantt-chart.html

- Pie + Pie: Donut chart
http://vizwiz.blogspot.com/2014/12/donutcharts.html

- Polygon + Circle
http://blog.databender.net/2014/06/23/points-and-polygons/

- Gantt + Circle: Equiplot
http://healthintelligence.drupalgardens.com/content/equiplot-chart-display-equity-data

- Stacked Bars + Circle: Likert Scales chart
http://www.datarevelations.com/likert-scale-nirvana.html

- (Bar or Line) + Shape: Fun chart
http://www.datarevelations.com/was-stephen-few-right-my-problems-with-a-companys-iron-viz-competition.html

Drop me line if you know a cool dual axis viz. I'd love to know.
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Jake and I collaborated on a dashboard. He told me that he learnt a way to create an in-place help page in Tableau. He first saw it at a conference somewhere and couldn't recall who the speaker was. So I am blogging here about it but the credit goes to somebody else. If anyone knows who the original creator is, leave a comment below.

The key idea is to float a semi transparent worksheet on top of the dashboard, where a help text box is strategically placed on top of each chart. This way, we can explain how to view each chart and what data points are important, etc. This worksheet is collapsible by a show/hide button. 

Below I would like to show how this worksheet can be constructed.

1. Sheet with a single data mark.

  • Double click the empty space in Marks panel and add two single quotes. Make the null pill a text label. This creates a single null mark.
  • Set the view as "Entire View"

2. Create an show/hide button

  • Go to the target dashboard
  • Drag a floating vertical container to the dashboard, making it cover all the area of interest.
  • Drag the Single Null Mark sheet and drop it into the above container. Hide the sheet title.
  • Create an open/close button for the container and place the button at the top-right corner.

3. Add annotations

  • Format the sheet background opacity as 70% in the layout manager             
  • Select area annotations and place them anywhere of interest. 
  • Write help text and format it to highlight important messages.  
  • The text can serve as functional guide and/or insight guide.

Here is an example. Feel free to download the workbook and explore. Click the "i" button at the top-right corner to view the in-place help. 

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