Data Geeks, Visualize Our Star Wars Data

Here at Tableau, we might be getting a little too excited about next week’s Star Wars release. But who can blame us? Star Wars basically has the perfect combination of brainy geekiness and excellent storytelling that we love here at Tableau.

Here at Tableau, we might be getting a little too excited about next week’s Star Wars release. But who can blame us? Star Wars basically has the perfect combination of brainy geekiness and excellent storytelling that we love here at Tableau. Here are some pictures of our employees celebrating Star Wars in various, amazing ways:

Tableau employees celebrating Star Wars

(Yes, one of those pictures is a wedding proposal.)

Of course, costumes and props are just one way our team gets excited about Star Wars. We’ve also scoured the web for Star Wars data to play with. And we want you to put your data-viz genius to work.

We built a Web Data Connector (WDC) with the Star Wars API and published it so you can use it as a data source. Here’s the fun part: We want you to visualize this data using Tableau Public by next Wednesday. Then use the hashtag #StarWarsData to tweet a link to your viz. We’ll choose our favorites to feature in a blog post on the day The Force Awakens hits theaters.

Ready? To connect to our WDC, just select "Web Data Connector" as your data source in Tableau and enter this URL when prompted. (Here's a quick how-to guide on connecting to a WDC.)

For inspiration, check out this recent viz that our own Jewel Loree built using Star Wars data. (It doesn't visualize this data set, but the data used is just as intriguing.) Happy vizzing, and may the (data) force be with you.