What is it about Tableau that inspires an ever growing community to hold up signs that read I ♥ Tableau and excitedly share data visualizations on social media? Why do so many organizations turn to Tableau as the gold standard for visual analytics? How can an analytics platform be so fun, engaging, and useful all at once?

Tableau disrupted the paradigm for visually interacting with data. It made it easy and intuitive (and fun!) to be hands-on with the data, to receive instant visual feedback with every action, and to ask questions and uncover insights in a natural flow of thought and interaction. And Tableau continues to expand and evolve in ways that make seeing and understanding data easier and more powerful. New features such as Set Actions, geospatial support, and new statistical models expand the analysis that's possible. Transparency, density maps, new color palettes, and formatting options greatly enhance the visual story you can tell. The introduction of Tableau Prep brings the same intuitive instant feedback to data prep and cleansing that Tableau Desktop brought to data visualization. We'll cover these new features (and more) in the chapters of this book!

We'll look at Tableau through the lens of understanding the underlying paradigm of how and why Tableau works in the context of practical examples. And then we'll build on this solid foundation of understanding so that you will have the requisite tools and skills to tackle even the toughest data challenges!