Gordon Gekko, Russian Mobsters, and Visualizing to Jazz

…And he’s certainly creative in explaining its power too. Upon my walking in, Dan had already begun laying the foundation for his presentation through a comparison of what a smartphone would cost in 1981 and what even Gordon Gekko had to pay for those monstrous blocks people used to hold against their faces back then. I don’t know how he pulled off the tie in, but it worked.

I am not a technical man and am only beginning to dip my toes in the Tableau pool. Dan insisted I wasn’t alone. In fact, he held that most of the world had no idea how the mad universe of data, with all its overwhelming complexity, works.

Before the comment could become discouraging to us laymen, Dan continued in explaining why it was this reality that made Tableau such a beautiful thing. It makes data more approachable and less daunting to us poor non-technical folk (duh, right?), and does so with ease.

Notable examples of why he feels Tableau has been able to do this so effectively include: maintaining a simple and familiar interface from version to version, assuring a short learning period for new features through clever design, and respecting the “developer convenience vs. user happiness” law of the Tableau universe.

Doing so not only empowers the end user and enables data-driven action, but also arms analysts and data scientists with enough firepower to persuade even the most cynical, Tableau-hesitant, Russian mobster boss to get on board (you had to be there).

And for his last tip — the next time you’re visualizing, pop on some headphones and listen to some Jazz (he insists on vinyl). It certainly seems to be working for Dan.