Tableau Desktop

Score8.1 out of 10

2,288 Reviews and Ratings

What is Tableau Desktop?

Tableau Desktop is a data visualization product from Tableau. It connects to a variety of data sources for combining disparate data sources without coding. It provides tools for discovering patterns and insights, data calculations, forecasts, and statistical summaries and visual storytelling.

Categories & Use Cases

Java API
A Java application programming interface (API) is a list of all classes that are part of the Java development kit (JDK)
Category average: 8.1
Formatting capabilities
Ability to format output e.g. conditional formatting, lines, headers, footers.
Category average: 8.1
Report sharing and collaboration
Report sharing and collaboration is the ability to easily share reports with others.
Category average: 8.5

Integration with R or other statistical packages
Integration with the open-source R predictive modeling environment.
Category average: 7.9
Publish to Web
Category average: 8.4
Mobile Application
A dedicated app for iOS and/or Android.
Category average: 7.4

Karol Kozłowski View profile

Project manager in Product Management at WOLTERS KLUWER POLSKA S A (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Tableau Desktop as an application that presents statistics. The first advantage is that you can group different sources of statistics in one place. The second is that there is a lot of customization. We increased our use of Tableau Desktop after migrating to GA4. GA4 stopped meeting our needs. All departments are stakeholders, but only the BI department actually creates and edits reports. I am one of the stakegolders.

Pros

Grouping data from different sources.
Possibility of personalization.
Service availability.

Cons

Explanations of data (often, after some time, we do not understand our own reports; there is a lack of legend and description functions).
Sometimes the fluidity is not perfect, which makes it not as enjoyable to use.

Return on Investment

It is definitely a positive that we are constantly monitoring data and can share it with a selected group of recipients.
The biggest impact is that we meet and discuss the shape of the requirements for statistics. It allows us to stop and think about the company's overall business goals.

Usability

Other Software Used

Userlane, Miro, Google Analytics, Atlassian Jira

Manidipa Kundu View profile

Data Analyst in Quality Assurance at Gfactors (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I Mainly use Tableau Desktop for my data analysis work. It can connect with various data sources like excel, text files, relational data bases, cloud based data sources like salesforce, google analytics etc. Tableau Desktop helps to create dashboards, predictive modelling, functional data analysis in my profession. I think it has high scope in near future since its continuously building and updating the software with modern days requirements.

Pros

It helps with data visualization with interactive dashboards really well.
It features help with time series analysis which is very fast to explore pattern.
Tableau Desktop can be adapt to various industry application like sales, finance, healthcare domain etc.

Cons

It has less features for advance statistical analysis.
Tableau Desktop is clunky when it connects with python or R via scripts.
Its not user friendly when comes to large data file loading, it can be slow with large data set.

Return on Investment

It has made our analytics work faster. our productivity has increased.
Tableau Desktop is not cheap.
non technical users has high learning curve

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Power BI

Other Software Used

MySQL, Microsoft Teams, Class for Zoom

Amanda McCombs View profile

Director Client Operations & Analysis at Usherpa (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Tableau Desktop to analyze engagement and ROI for clients, create interactive and aesthetically pleasing custom reports as requested by clients, and to examine various internal queries relating to sales, retention, churn, and lifecycles. Tableau Desktop saves a lot of time and is easier to use than Power BI.

Pros

Visualization
Interactive dashboards
Joining data tables
Clear analysis
Helpful community knowledge base

Cons

Training on calculations could be more 'laymen' friendly
Date data is very difficult to scaffold when there are days with no data
Included iconography (Shapes) could be much more modern and robust
Should be able to truly update all colors/fonts/backgrounds globally in workbook dashboards

Return on Investment

Retention and lifespan has increased because we're better able to present hard data easily and create recurring engagement reports
A lot of time is saved by being able to easily join tables and create ad hoc reports outside of Excel with much more visually appealing output
We were able to do some in-depth A/B analysis to prove ROI to clients much more effectively
We've saved a lot of money from having to use 3rd party analytics firms due to the accessible nature of Tableau Desktop and abundance of training resources

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Access

Other Software Used

Canva, Microsoft Excel, ActiveCampaign, Microsoft Powerpoint, Google Sheets, Google Forms, SurveyMonkey

Jannika Rasi View profile

Senior Business Analyst in Product Management at Schibsted Marketplaces (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Tableau Desktop every day and daily basis. I built business and analytics dashboards and analysis with the tool. It visualises my analysis and allows users to help themself for access data. Scope is large, data needs are cross country and and to end. We use ready made sources but also process data straight in Tableau.

Pros

Dashboards
Simple connections to many sources
Visulaisations

Cons

When joining keys I would like to see how good is the join
labels could have more options in charts
sorting does not always work in table charts

Return on Investment

Leading with data
product development improvement
helping ppl avoid manual work

Usability

Alternatives Considered

QlikView and Looker Studio

Other Software Used

Amplitude Analytics, Snowflake, Slack

Liz Brandon

Sr Manager Performance Analytics in Information Technology at Suntory Global Spirits (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Tableau Desktop to build dashboards for several of our internal and syndicated data sources. It is used by members of out sales, marketing, and finance teams to give them self service tools to better understand sales trends, distribution, promotion, and pricing. It also allows us to easily access and visualize very large datasets.

Pros

Easy to use drag and drop interface
Data source can be customized or joined with other data tables right in Tableau Desktop.
Level of detail calculations increase flexibility of data analysis
Fast refresh rate

Cons

Large datasets sometimes lag when refreshing
More expensive than other data visualization software options
Difficult to create some popular chart types including waterfalls.

Return on Investment

Tableau Desktop has sped up the monthly reporting process for us by automating tasks that were manually done.
Easy to use dashboards now make large amount of data available to all levels of the organization.
We are easily able to join data sets ourselves rather than relying on IT to build something o the back end.