Andy Cotgreave is a visual analytics expert who has been with Tableau in various roles since 2011 ranging from product consultant to social content manager. He is now Tableau's Senior Technical Evangelist. Prior to Tableau, Andy was a data analyst at the University of Oxford. As a technical evangelist, he helps people see and understand their data using Tableau’s innovative products. Find out more about Andy here: http://about.me/acotgreave.
Will Alexa become my companion data analyst?
March 21, 2017 • By Andy Cotgreave
How a smart assistant can eventually become your organization's next data rock star.
What can data-viz authors learn from punks?
January 3, 2017 • By Andy Cotgreave
"The skills required for most effectively displaying information are not intuitive and rely largely on principles that must be learned," says Stephen Few in his excellent book Show Me the Numbers.
In principle, I agree.
But there is a problem: Some of the skills can only be learned by practice. Knowing what makes a purely functional chart doesn't teach you about human psychology and the need to engage as well as inform. Experience of failure and success, learned early on, teaches you as much as books.
Why scribbling is the key to truly understanding your data
December 6, 2016 • By Andy Cotgreave
Scribbling is especially valuable when it comes to data analysis. Simply put, the goal of analyzing data is to find insights and communicate them in an optimal, engaging way. But you don’t reach this goal by first deciding which chart types you want and then adding the data. Saying something like “I will start with a bar chart” and adding data to it is the equivalent of trying to create a masterpiece with a paint-by-numbers set.
Makeover Monday: Show us your moves in Tableau
November 19, 2016 • By Andy Cotgreave
How do you explore data? What path do you take from opening a data set to publishing a dashboard? Do you go in a straight line or a squiggly path? This week Tableau’s research team is joining Makeover Monday to help answer those questions.
Find hidden insights in your data: Ask why and why again
November 17, 2016 • By Andy Cotgreave
Let’s say sales are down, costs are high, and resources are underused—all familiar scenarios, right? Being able to identify these problems is the easy part. The hard but crucial part is actually getting to the root cause of a problem so you can take action.
How do you do that? By asking why, and then asking it again.