What's New in Tableau 7.0

Tableau 7.0 is the evolution of business intelligence. Whether you’re a business user who needs to get more from data faster, an IT professional seeking a self-service BI environment, or an executive who simply wants to get answers, Tableau 7.0 has something for everyone.

Tableau 7.0 includes deep capabilities in:

  • New Ways of Seeing. Get new perspectives on data; shift perspectives with a click.
  • Analytical Firepower. Answer sophisticated questions easily.
  • Shared Data. Manage data across an organization while staying flexible.
  • Enterprise Class. Tools to make IT happy.

This paper provides an overview of some of these key features in Tableau 7.0.

We've also pulled out the first several pages of the whitepaper for you to read. Download the PDF on the right to read the rest.


New ways of seeing

Visual analytics is at the core of the Tableau experience. Business users must be able to see the data in meaningful ways in order to understand it. With traditional BI, business users have been challenged to easily visualize data and spot trends that answer their own questions.

To remove this barrier, Tableau 7.0 has expanded its visualization capabilities, added several new chart types, redesigned dozens of features, and improved data analysis tools such as stats, date manipulation, and domain completion. With these updates the product is more intuitive and interactive.

Tableau 7.0 delivers even more comprehensive analytics and visualizations that enable users to ask and answer their own questions.

Area charts

Imagine looking at a line chart showing the change over time among several categories (industry, state, etc). A line chart is excellent for showing the growth and decline of the individual items, but does not show the change of the group as a whole.

Area charts allow viewers to visually compare segments and gain a holistic view of the data.

Filled maps

Tableau maps have been redesigned and now allow users to plot data as sized marks (dots) or filled geographic shapes. Tableau provides geographic data down to the zip code level, giving users any easy way to visualize data.

Wrapped maps

Tableau maps wrap around the globe, so a viewer can pan continuously to the East or West. This makes it easier to display world data. In addition, Tableau chooses a map center based on the data, instead of choosing the Americas by default.

Combine mark types on maps

Tableau allows users to combine mark types on a map or any visualization. This enables viewers to visually compare data and reveal patterns that would otherwise be much harder to see.

For example, filled maps can be combined with circles and pies. Layering data in this visual and easy-to-read way makes analysis accessible to viewers.

Show Me

When working with data it can be hard to find the best visualization to tell a story.

The “Show Me” feature is unique to Tableau and helps users choose the most appropriate visualizations for the data. By seeing data in different perspectives, users can quickly see things that might have been otherwise overlooked.

A redesigned “Show Me” experience makes it easier to explore and provides guidance on what kind of data is needed to add to create a specific view. It has also been integrated into the workspace as a floating palette for easy access.

Analytical firepower

Business users need intuitive and powerful analytical tools to answer the hard questions.

Tableau 7.0 brings with it enhanced parameters, statistical features, and mobile capabilities that will significantly expand viewers’ ability to see and understand data. In addition to these brand new capabilities, Tableau 7.0 also makes many analytical tasks, such as manipulating dates and excluding data, easier with enhanced usability.

Improved date manipulations

Working with dates is one of the most common tasks that users do when looking at data. The ability to work with dates easily can save time and improves visual representation for viewers.

In Tableau 7.0, the date context menu is now easier to use allowing you to quickly select the right date level.

Want to read more? Download the rest of the whitepaper!