Distribution analysis (box plots) in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants to understand the distribution of sales amounts across different product categories to identify variability and outliers.

📊 Data: You have sales transaction data including Product Category, Sales Amount, and Transaction Date.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a dashboard with box plots showing the distribution of sales amounts for each product category.

Sample Data

Transaction ID	Product Category	Sales Amount	Transaction Date
1001	Electronics	250	2024-05-01
1002	Electronics	300	2024-05-02
1003	Furniture	450	2024-05-01
1004	Furniture	700	2024-05-03
1005	Clothing	80	2024-05-02
1006	Clothing	120	2024-05-04
1007	Electronics	150	2024-05-05
1008	Furniture	600	2024-05-05
1009	Clothing	200	2024-05-06
1010	Electronics	400	2024-05-06

1

Step 1: Connect Tableau to the sales transaction data source.

Use the provided data table with columns: Transaction ID, Product Category, Sales Amount, Transaction Date.

Expected Result

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

2

Step 2: Create a new worksheet for the box plot.

Drag 'Product Category' to Columns shelf. Drag 'Sales Amount' to Rows shelf.

Expected Result

A bar chart appears showing total sales amount by product category.

3

Step 3: Change the mark type to 'Box-and-Whisker Plot'.

Click on the Marks card dropdown and select 'Box-and-Whisker Plot'.

Expected Result

Box plots appear for each product category showing distribution of sales amounts.

4

Step 4: Add tooltips to show minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum sales amounts.

Ensure default box plot tooltips are enabled in Tableau.

Expected Result

Hovering over each box plot shows detailed distribution statistics.

5

Step 5: Format the visualization for clarity and accessibility.

Add axis titles: 'Product Category' (X-axis), 'Sales Amount' (Y-axis). Use color to differentiate categories if desired. Ensure color contrast is sufficient.

Expected Result

Box plots are clearly labeled and easy to interpret.

6

Step 6: Create a dashboard and add the box plot worksheet.

Drag the worksheet onto a new dashboard. Add a title: 'Sales Amount Distribution by Product Category'.

Expected Result

Dashboard displays the box plots with a clear title.

Final Result

Dashboard: Sales Amount Distribution by Product Category

+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| Electronics    | Furniture      | Clothing       |
|  ┌─────┐       |  ┌─────┐       |  ┌─────┐       |
|  │  ■  │       |  │  ■  │       |  │  ■  │       |
|  │■■■■■│       |  │■■■■■│       |  │■■■■■│       |
|  └─────┘       |  └─────┘       |  └─────┘       |
|  Min 150       |  Min 450       |  Min 80        |
|  Median 275    |  Median 600    |  Median 120    |
|  Max 400       |  Max 700       |  Max 200       |
+----------------+----------------+----------------+

✓Electronics sales have moderate variability with some outliers at higher sales amounts.

✓Furniture sales show higher sales amounts and wider distribution, indicating more variability.

✓Clothing sales have lower sales amounts and less variability compared to other categories.

Bonus Challenge

Add a filter to the dashboard to allow users to select a date range and see how sales distribution changes over time.

Show Hint

Use Tableau's date filter feature and apply it to the data source or worksheet to dynamically update the box plots.