Reference bands in Tableau - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Reference bands

Dashboard Goal

Understand how sales compare to average and target values using reference bands in a sales dashboard.

Sample Data

Region	Month	Sales	Target
North	Jan	120	100
North	Feb	150	130
South	Jan	90	100
South	Feb	110	120
East	Jan	130	110
East	Feb	140	130
West	Jan	100	90
West	Feb	115	100

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Total Sales
  Formula: SUM([Sales])
  Result: 955
• KPI Card: Average Sales
  Formula: AVG([Sales])
  Result: 119.375
• Line Chart: Monthly Sales by Region
  X-axis: Month
  Y-axis: Sales
  Color: Region
  
  Reference Bands:
  - Average Sales Band: From average sales (119.375) to average sales (119.375) with light blue shading
  - Target Sales Band: Dynamic band showing target range per month (min and max target values)
  
  Purpose: Visualize sales trends with context of average and target ranges.
• Table: Sales vs Target Detail
  Columns: Region, Month, Sales, Target, Difference
  Formula for Difference: [Sales] - [Target]
  Shows how each sales value compares to its target.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+----------------------+
|   Total Sales (KPI)  |  Average Sales (KPI) |
+----------------------+----------------------+
|                      Line Chart: Monthly Sales by Region                      |
|                (with reference bands for average and target)                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                         Sales vs Target Detail Table                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

Region Filter: Selecting a region updates the line chart and detail table to show only that region's data. KPI cards update to reflect totals and averages for the selected region.

Month Filter: Selecting one or more months filters all components to those months, updating sales totals, averages, and the reference bands accordingly.

Self Check

If you add a filter to show only the South region, which components update and how?

• KPI Cards: Total Sales and Average Sales update to sum and average sales only for South.
• Line Chart: Shows sales trend only for South with updated reference bands based on South's data.
• Detail Table: Displays only South region rows with sales, target, and difference.

Key Result

Sales dashboard showing total and average sales KPIs, monthly sales line chart with reference bands for average and target, and detailed sales vs target table.