New in Tableau 8: Deep Visual Analytics

Tableau 8 is packed with powerful features from a new JavaScript API to local browser rendering. But what gets us really excited about 8 are the visual analytics features. Not only beautiful, they're also smart-- they let you ask deeper questions of your data.

Tableau 8 includes treemaps, bubble charts and word clouds. These are important because they let you fit a lot of data in a small space and provide instant insight into the most important of that data. They are also familiar view types to many people, so can help you in communicating your ideas broadly.

And of course, like everything we build in Tableau, it’s got all the flexibility you expect—like the bar chart of treemaps above, that shows a breakout of GDP by country with a treemap-bar for every year.

Another innovation in Tableau 8 is the ability to overlap zones on a dashboard. This seemingly minor change will let people produce a new aesthetic in dashboards. From simply saving space by putting legends and filters in the view to creative new ways of creating dashboards, we can’t wait to see what people do with this feature.

For a simple example, click on one of the marks above. You’ll see a chart appear with details for that country. It’s actually a view on top of another view. The legend is also overlapping the main view.

Another set of significant advancements in 8 comes with the sets & groups features. Sets are much more powerful, allowing combination of sets as well as easier editing of sets. Grouping now allows “painting in the view,” or easy visual selection and grouping with a click.

You’re in luck. Over on the Tableau Public blog there’s a series of posts focusing on what’s new in Tableau 8, mostly on the Visual Analytics features.

• Word clouds
• Freeform Dashboard Design
• Floating Dashboard Content on Maps
• Treemap Bar Charts
• Bubble Charts

To introduce Tableau 8 properly to the world, we’re taking it on tour. The Tableau 8 Roadshow is an all-day affair, kicking off at 10 am with coffee. There will be breakout sessions, hands-on training and time for you to meet your local user group.

Know someone who needs Tableau? Bring ‘em. The Tableau 8 Overview is a great introduction for those just getting into modern day analytics. And you and your friends should stay for our reception at 4 to have a drink and ask any last questions.

Find roadshow dates here and check back for new dates often. Visual Analytics is only one of the five themes of Tableau 8. We’ll be posting in this blog on the other four, and check back here to find out when Tableau 8 goes live and get detailed information on every single feature.