Most likely, one view of a dataset is not enough. Different graphical representations may have their own advantages and biases. Each would offer a partial set of insights from the dataset.

It would be good to have a few different representations so that we can view the dataset in complementary ways. This is likely to offer the viewers more insights. We are not talking about slicing or dicing here.

In this Viz of the Day on 7/7/2016, the author Nick Hura created a viz on the rankings of 50 US States in 5 different metrics. The visual looks great and attractive! It tells us the rankings of each state quite effectively. Those little bars on a big square is a great design. The map layout is a popular index view of the states.
What I found hard to see is the comparison between the states. Thus I added a sorted view so that we can see visually where each state is sitting, and which states are above or behind. Click the image to view the interactive version.
The added view is based on bump chart, which we often use to view rankings across time or categories.

The new view is presented using the visual tooltip technique. The key steps in this design are:
- Create the bump chart
- Create a dimension "One" with value 1. This field shows 1 in all the rows.
- Create an action filter based on "One". This will turn on/off the entire bump chart.
- Create a highlight action filter based on State. This will highlight the selected state.

With the added view, we have a better idea where each state compares with others.
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(Refresh the page if you want to view the gif image multiple times. Or go to Tableau Public and click the button at the top-right corner.)

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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