Using Tableau to Become a Netflix Power User

Tableau’s mission is to help people see and understand data. Even as an intern, I have experienced this. I am an avid Netflix user but have often found it difficult to find great movies because the ratings online are based off movies I have previously rated. What I would do is go to Netflix, find a movie title under “Suggested for you,” then search for it on imdb.com to see what rating it received from other viewers.

Liz Feller
Tableau’s mission is to help people see and understand data. Even as an intern, I have experienced this. I am an avid Netflix user but have often found it difficult to find great movies because the ratings online are based off movies I have previously rated. What I would do is go to Netflix, find a movie title under “Suggested for you,” then search for it on imdb.com to see what rating it received from other viewers. When I started my internship, I was exploring Tableau’s products and found Tableau Public, a free domain for sharing visualizations. I tracked down a dashboard about Netflix.com that I found very useful and easy to navigate. This Viz allows you to see what movies are available to stream instantly and what ratings they have received from other Netflix users. It also lets you filter by decade of release (I love movies from the 90’s) and if you click on the movie synopsis, it takes you directly to that movie’s page on Netflix! Data exploration is definitely not just for people whose jobs require it. I wouldn’t have learned this without this internship.

In terms of serious stuff, I am the intern for the marketing department. Since Tableau is in the software industry, fast is a basic requirement. It feels like everything here is moving quickly. In line with this pattern, Tableau is growing at an unbelievable rate and I receive handfuls of please welcome so-and-so to the team emails every day.. One of the benefits that comes with being the marketing intern is that you get the chance to learn so much about different industries. My main project is improving the organization of marketing materials and making things easier to find for reuse. To do this I read through material used to target different markets which are often broken down by industry. Tableau is extremely versatile and it has been really interesting to see how the marketing department communicates this to customers through all of the product’s benefits. I have also learned quite a bit about the product itself. My desk is located near the sales team so I hear them talk about the product all day. I have had fun playing around with Tableau’s free trial and would strongly encourage downloading it if you haven’t already. I have learned so much about business and marketing in my short time here and that information will be valuable in whatever career I end up with. I fully believe I have secured the coolest internship ever offered. Everyone in the office is super friendly and more than happy to answer any and all questions. When I got to my desk on my first day I felt like a kid on Christmas, there was a beautiful array of new office supplies and two big computer monitors. There’s also the most glorious selection of free food in the kitchens on each floor at all times. The great work environment makes eight-hour days fly by. Tableau cares just as much about their employees as they do their customers and I am so grateful to be a part of this company. I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention that I got a free shirt on my first day (SCORE). I’m a sucker for free t-shirts.