Symbol maps in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a visual map showing sales volume by city across the country. The goal is to see which cities have the highest sales at a glance.

📊 Data: You have a dataset with columns: City, State, Latitude, Longitude, and Sales Amount. Each row represents total sales for a city.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a symbol map in Tableau that plots each city by its coordinates. The size of each symbol should represent the total sales amount for that city.

Sample Data

City	State	Latitude	Longitude	Sales Amount
Seattle	WA	47.6062	-122.3321	120000
Portland	OR	45.5152	-122.6784	90000
San Francisco	CA	37.7749	-122.4194	150000
Los Angeles	CA	34.0522	-118.2437	200000
Denver	CO	39.7392	-104.9903	80000
Chicago	IL	41.8781	-87.6298	170000
Houston	TX	29.7604	-95.3698	130000
Miami	FL	25.7617	-80.1918	110000

1

Step 1: Connect your data source to Tableau and load the sales data.

Import the dataset with columns City, State, Latitude, Longitude, and Sales Amount.

Expected Result

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

2

Step 2: Create a new worksheet for the symbol map.

Click on 'New Worksheet' button.

Expected Result

A blank worksheet is ready for building the map.

3

Step 3: Drag Longitude to Columns shelf and Latitude to Rows shelf to plot points geographically.

Columns: Longitude, Rows: Latitude

Expected Result

A basic map with points plotted at city coordinates appears.

4

Step 4: Change the mark type to 'Circle' to represent cities as symbols.

On Marks card, select 'Circle' from the drop-down menu.

Expected Result

Points on the map become circles.

5

Step 5: Drag 'Sales Amount' to the Size shelf on the Marks card to size circles by sales volume.

Marks card > Size > drag 'Sales Amount'

Expected Result

Circles vary in size, larger circles represent higher sales.

6

Step 6: Drag 'City' to the Detail shelf on the Marks card to ensure each city is a separate point.

Marks card > Detail > drag 'City'

Expected Result

Each circle represents a unique city.

7

Step 7: Add labels to show city names on the map for clarity.

Marks card > Label > drag 'City' and check 'Show mark labels'.

Expected Result

City names appear next to their circles on the map.

8

Step 8: Adjust size range for better visual balance and readability.

Marks card > Size > click Size legend > adjust slider to moderate circle sizes.

Expected Result

Circles are sized clearly without overlap or being too small.

9

Step 9: Format the map background and borders for better visual appeal.

Map menu > Map Layers > turn on borders and style background as light gray.

Expected Result

Map has clear state borders and a subtle background.

10

Step 10: Add a title to the worksheet describing the visualization.

Double-click the title area and enter 'City Sales Volume Symbol Map'.

Expected Result

The map has a clear, descriptive title.

Final Result

City Sales Volume Symbol Map

[Map with circles of varying sizes plotted at city locations]

Seattle (medium circle)
Portland (smaller circle)
San Francisco (large circle)
Los Angeles (largest circle)
Denver (small circle)
Chicago (large circle)
Houston (medium-large circle)
Miami (medium circle)

✓Los Angeles has the highest sales volume, shown by the largest circle.

✓San Francisco and Chicago also have high sales with large circles.

✓Denver and Portland have smaller sales volumes, indicated by smaller circles.

✓The symbol map clearly shows geographic sales distribution across cities.

Bonus Challenge

Add color to the symbol map to represent sales growth compared to last year, using a diverging color palette.

Show Hint

Create a calculated field for sales growth percentage, then drag it to Color on the Marks card. Use red for negative growth and green for positive growth.