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Next-Level Tableau

The 3 Levels of Tableau Analysis Explained

Published 16 days ago • 2 min read

Hey Reader,

Strong Tableau analysis usually moves through three levels.

Level 1: Overview

Start with the big picture.

What is the overall result?

  • Is performance up or down?
  • Are we above or below target?
  • Which metric needs attention?

Level 2: Diagnosis

Next, investigate what caused the result.

Break the metric down by useful dimensions:

  • Region
  • Product
  • Customer segment
  • Sales channel
  • Time period

The goal is to find the areas driving the movement.

Level 3: Detail

Only then should you show the underlying records or granular information.

This is where users can inspect individual transactions, customers, products, or cases.

The mistake is starting at Level 3.

When you show a giant table first, users have to perform the analysis themselves.

That’s not insight. That’s homework.

Build your dashboards so users can move from:

What happened?

to Why did it happen?

to What specifically caused it?

That structure makes your work easier to understand and more useful in decision-making.

Inside Next-Level Tableau, you’ll learn how to build analyses that move naturally from overview to diagnosis to detail.

Join here: https://www.nextleveltableau.com/nlt​

– Andy

PS: Review one dashboard this week and ask: “Does this help users find the cause, or does it just show them more data?”

ANDY KRIEBEL

I help ambitious Tableau analysts who’ve hit a ceiling

become the experts everyone relies on.​
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