Tableau is the most-deployed analyst-facing BI tool in the world. Before any deep work, the orientation: there is no 'Tableau' the product — there are four. Tableau Desktop is the authoring IDE. Tableau Public is a free version that publishes to a public website. Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud distribute workbooks across an organisation. Tableau Prep is the dedicated ETL tool. Most analysts spend 95% of their time in Desktop.
The authoring loop
Open Desktop → connect to data → drag fields onto the Rows/Columns shelves and the Marks card → save as a workbook (.twb or .twbx). The .twb is XML referencing external data. The .twbx is a packaged workbook with the data bundled in — what you share when you don't want the recipient hunting for files.
Worksheet → Dashboard → Story
- Worksheet: one visualisation, one data view. Where you build single charts.
- Dashboard: an arrangement of multiple worksheets, filters, parameters, and layout containers. Where users land.
- Story: a sequence of dashboards meant to be walked through linearly. Used rarely; most teams skip in favour of decks.
Desktop vs Public
Tableau Public is free but publishes everything you make to a public URL — fine for portfolio work, unacceptable for client data. Desktop costs ~$70/month for non-students. Students and faculty get one year free with verification. Public-Desktop workbook compatibility is one-way: Public can save what Desktop made, but Public cannot save .twbx with custom data sources beyond extracts.
Setting up — the analyst's checklist
Install Desktop or Public. Connect to a sample data source (Tableau ships with a 'Superstore' Excel file — the standard tutorial dataset). Drag a date dimension to Columns, a sales measure to Rows. You should see a line chart. If you can, congratulations — you have the entire grammar of Tableau already, you just don't know it yet. The next eleven modules turn that grammar into fluency.
Exercise
Install Tableau Public (free) or get a 14-day Tableau Desktop trial. Connect to any CSV — Kenya KNBS quarterly GDP, World Bank indicators, or the bundled Superstore. Build a single line chart of one measure over time. Save it as a .twbx and reopen it. What's in the file?