Designing Stunning Data Visualisations in Tableau: Tips from the Pros

Tableau, one of the leading data visualisation tools, offers powerful capabilities to turn raw data into insights.

However, creating a stunning visualisation in Tableau requires more than dragging and dropping fields onto a canvas. It’s about understanding design principles, knowing your audience, and using Tableau’s features effectively. Here are some expert tips for designing data visualisations that look great and communicate effectively.

1. Know your audience and define your purpose

Before you start designing your visualisation, it’s crucial to understand who your audience is and what you want to achieve. Are you presenting to a board of executives who need high-level insights, or are you designing for analysts who need to dig into the details? Knowing your audience helps you determine the right level of complexity, detail, and interactivity.

Define the purpose of your dashboard. Are you aiming to highlight a trend, identify an outlier, or compare different data sets? Clarity on the purpose helps keep your design focused and prevents unnecessary clutter.

**Pro Tip:** Use a single, clear headline to summarise the key takeaway of your visualisation. This immediately guides the audience on what to focus on.

2. Start with the data, not the visualisation

It’s tempting to jump straight into Tableau and start building charts, but a great visualisation starts with understanding the data. Spend time cleaning, shaping, and understanding your data set, making sure your data is accurate, complete, and well-structured. Poor data quality will undermine even the most beautifully designed visualisation.

**Pro Tip:** Use Tableau Prep to clean and shape your data before importing it into Tableau Desktop. This ensures that your data is ready for visualisation, saving you time and effort.

Data visualisation is more than just charts and graphs; it's about telling a compelling story that drives decisions.

3. Choose the right chart type

Each chart type tells a different story and choosing the wrong one can confuse your audience. For example, bar charts are great for comparing categories, line charts are ideal for showing trends over time, and scatter plots are excellent for identifying correlations.

Avoid complex chart types unless necessary; simpler is often better. Always keep your audience in mind – don’t use a chart type just because it looks cool. It’s more important that your audience interpret the data quickly and accurately.

**Pro Tip:** Tableau offers Show Me, a helpful feature that suggests the best chart type based on your selected data. Use it as a guide, but don’t rely on it entirely; always consider what will best serve your audience.

4. Design for clarity and simplicity

Less is more when it comes to data visualisation. A common mistake is overloading a dashboard with too many charts, colours, and filters, which can overwhelm and confuse the viewer. Focus on the key insights you want to convey and eliminate anything that doesn’t add value.

**Pro Tip:** Use white space strategically. White space (or negative space) isn’t wasted space – it helps to draw attention to the most important elements of your visualisation.

5. Use colour wisely

Colour is one of the most powerful tools in data visualisation, but it can easily be overused or misused. Use colours consistently and sparingly to draw attention to key data points. Avoid using too many colours as it can make your visualisation look cluttered and make it difficult for viewers to interpret the data.

Use a consistent colour palette that aligns with your organisation's branding or the context of your visualisation. Use contrasting colours to highlight differences and use colour intensity to represent magnitude or importance.

**Pro Tip:** Use Tableau’s built-in colour palettes or customise your own. For accessibility, consider using colour-blind-friendly palettes, ensuring your visualisation can be understood by everyone.

6. Leverage hierarchy and layout

How you arrange elements on your dashboard can significantly impact how users interpret the data. A typical layout is to place the most important information in the top left corner, then follow the natural reading pattern of left-to-right, top-to-bottom. That’s not to say this rule can’t be broken, e.g. if the story being told is a journey, then bottom right might be the spot for your key visual.

Group related charts and elements together to create a cohesive and easy-to-follow story. Use titles, labels, and annotations strategically to guide the viewer through the visualisation. Avoid cluttered layouts that make the dashboard look busy and confusing.

**Pro Tip:** Test your layout with users if possible. Observing how someone interacts with your dashboard can reveal unexpected pain points or confusing elements that you may need to adjust.

7. Add interactivity thoughtfully

Interactivity is one of Tableau’s greatest strengths. Filters, parameters, and dashboard actions can make your visualisations more engaging and insightful. However, too much interactivity, like excessively granular filters, can overwhelm users. Use interactivity to enhance, not complicate, the user experience.

 Include clear instructions for interactive elements. For example, if you include a filter, make sure it’s obvious what it does and how it should be used. Consider using tooltips to provide additional information without cluttering the dashboard.

**Pro Tip:** Use Tableau’s ‘Viz in Tooltip’ feature to add extra detail on hover without adding another chart to your dashboard. It’s a clean way to provide more context without taking up extra space.

8. Test and iterate

Creating a stunning data visualisation is an iterative process. Share your dashboard with colleagues or stakeholders and gather feedback. Watch how they interact with it and make adjustments based on their input.

Testing your visualisation on different devices is also worthwhile. Tableau’s Device Designer allows you to see how your dashboard will look on desktops, tablets, and phones, ensuring it’s optimised for any screen size.

**Pro Tip:** Make use of Tableau’s performance recording feature to identify any bottlenecks or slow-loading elements. A visually appealing dashboard is only effective if it performs well.

9. Stay updated with Tableau’s features

Tableau is constantly evolving, with new features and updates regularly introduced. Staying updated with these changes can enhance your visualisation skills and keep your dashboards fresh and modern. Participate in Tableau community forums, webinars, and training sessions to keep your skills sharp.

**Pro Tip:** Follow Tableau Public’s featured authors and top visualisations for inspiration. Seeing how others use Tableau creatively can spark new ideas and techniques for your own projects.

Applying these expert tips, you can create visualisations that are not only visually appealing but also highly effective in communicating your data’s story. Remember, the best visualisations are those that resonate with the viewer, provide clarity, and ultimately drive informed decisions.