Highlight actions in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a sales analyst at a retail company.

📋 Request: Your manager wants an interactive sales dashboard where clicking on a product category highlights related sales data across different charts.

📊 Data: You have monthly sales data including Product Category, Product Sub-Category, Sales Amount, and Region.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a Tableau dashboard with multiple charts and use highlight actions so that selecting a product category in one chart highlights related data in others.

Sample Data

Month	Product Category	Product Sub-Category	Sales Amount	Region
Jan	Furniture	Chairs	5000	East
Jan	Furniture	Tables	3000	West
Jan	Technology	Phones	7000	East
Feb	Furniture	Chairs	4500	South
Feb	Technology	Computers	8000	West
Feb	Office Supplies	Paper	2000	East
Mar	Office Supplies	Binders	1500	South
Mar	Technology	Phones	6000	West
Mar	Furniture	Tables	3500	East
Apr	Office Supplies	Paper	2500	South
Apr	Technology	Computers	9000	East
Apr	Furniture	Chairs	4000	West

1

Step 1: Connect to the sales data in Tableau and load it into the workbook.

Use 'Connect to Data' and select the data source containing Month, Product Category, Product Sub-Category, Sales Amount, and Region.

Expected Result

Data is loaded and visible in Tableau's Data pane.

2

Step 2: Create a bar chart showing total Sales Amount by Product Category.

Rows: SUM(Sales Amount), Columns: Product Category

Expected Result

Bar chart displays total sales for each product category.

3

Step 3: Create a line chart showing monthly sales trends for each Product Category.

Columns: Month, Rows: SUM(Sales Amount), Color: Product Category

Expected Result

Line chart shows sales trends over months for each category.

4

Step 4: Create a map showing total sales by Region.

Marks: Map, Location: Region, Detail: Product Category, Size: SUM(Sales Amount)

Expected Result

Map displays sales distribution by region.

5

Step 5: Create a dashboard and add the three charts: bar chart, line chart, and map.

Drag all three sheets onto a new dashboard layout.

Expected Result

Dashboard shows all three visualizations together.

6

Step 6: Add a highlight action to the dashboard to link the Product Category bar chart with the other charts.

Dashboard > Actions > Add Action > Highlight, Source Sheet: Bar Chart, Target Sheets: Line Chart and Map, Run action on: Select, Target Highlighting: Product Category

Expected Result

Selecting a product category in the bar chart highlights related data in the line chart and map.

7

Step 7: Test the highlight action by clicking on a Product Category in the bar chart.

Click on a bar representing a product category.

Expected Result

Related sales data in the line chart and map is highlighted, making it easy to see connections.

Final Result

Dashboard Layout:
+----------------+-------------------------+
| Bar Chart      | Line Chart (Monthly Sales) |
| (Product Cat.) |                         |
+----------------+-------------------------+
|                Map (Sales by Region)          |
+----------------------------------------------+

Highlight action: Selecting a bar in Bar Chart highlights lines and map regions.

✓Highlight actions help quickly see how sales for a product category relate across time and regions.

✓Furniture sales are strong in East and West regions with steady monthly trends.

✓Technology sales peak in certain months and regions, visible when highlighted.

Bonus Challenge

Add a filter action so selecting a region on the map filters the bar and line charts to show only that region's sales.

Show Hint

Use Dashboard > Actions > Add Action > Filter, set Source Sheet as Map and Target Sheets as Bar Chart and Line Chart.