Motion Map Chart with Tableau

8 years ago Hans Rosling demoed on TED the Motion Chart, using Gapminder's Trendalizer. 7 years ago Google bought Trendalizer and incorporated into Google Charts.

A while ago, for my own education and for demo purposes, I implemented various Motion Charts using:

• Tableau (see it here: http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/MotionChart_0/Motion#1 ; for automatic Motion please download it and run it within Free Tableau Reader),
• Qlikview ( Qlikview Demo application can be downloaded from: https://sites.google.com/site/pandre/files/MotionChart.qvw?attredirects=0&d=1 ),
• Google Charts ( see my blogpost here: http://apandre.wordpress.com/dv-by-pandre/motion-chart-demo/ )
• etc.

To implement Motion Chart in Tableau, you can use Page Shelf and place there either a Timing dimension (I used Dimension "Year" in Tableau example above) or even Measures Names (Average Monthly Home Value per ZIP Code) in my implementation of Motion Map Chart below.

Tableau's ability to move through pages (automatically when Tableau Desktop or Tableau reader are in use and manually when Data Visualization hosted by Tableau Server and accessed through Web Browser) enabling us to create all kind of Motion Charts, as long as Visualization Author will put onto Pages a Time, Date or Timestamp variables, describing a Timeline. For me the most interesting was to make a Filled Map (Chart Type supported by Tableau, which is similar to Choropleth Map Charts) as a Motion Map Chart, see the result below.

As we all know, 80% of any Data Visualization are Data and I found the appropriate Dataset @Zillow Real Estate Research here: http://www.zillow.com/blog/research/data/ . Dataset contains Monthly Sales Data for All Homes (SFR, Condo/Co-op) for entire US from 1997 until Current Month (so far for 12604 ZIP Codes, which is only 25% of all USA ZIP codes) - average for each ZIP Code area.

This Dataset covers 197 Months and contains about 2.5 millions of DataPoints. All 5 Dimensions in Dataset are very "Geographical": State, County, Metro Area, City and ZIP code (to define the "Region" and enable Tableau to generate a Longitude and Latitude) and each record has 197 Measures - the Average Monthly Home Prices per Given Region (which is ZIP Code Area) for each available Month since 1997.

In order to create a Motion Filled Map Chart, I put Longitude as Column and Latitude as Row, Measure Values as Color, Measure Names (except Number of Records) as Pages, States and Measure Names as Filters and State and ZIP code as Details and finally Attribute Values of County, Metro Area and City as Tooltips. Result I published on Tableau Public here:

http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/zhv/ZillowHomeValueByZIP_1997-2013#1 ,

so you can review it online AND you can download it and use it within Tableau Reader or Tableau Desktop as the automated Motion Map Chart.

For Presentation and Demo purposes I created the Slides and Movie (while playing it don't forget to setup a Video Quality to HD resolution) with Filled Map Chart colored by Home Values for entire USA in 2013 as a Starting points and with 22 follow-up steps/slides: Zoom to Northeast Map, colored by 2013 Values, Zoom to SouthEastern New England 2013, start the Motion from Southeastern New England, colored  by 1997 Home Values per each ZIP Code and then automatic Motion through all years from 1997 to 2014, then Zoom to Eastern Massachusetts and finally Zoom to Middlesex County in Massachusetts, see movie below:

Here the content of this video as the "24 Online Slides with Screenshots from Motion Map Chart"

Now I think it is appropriate to express my New Year Wish (I repeating it for a few years in a row) that Tableau Software Inc. will port the ability to create AUTOMATED Motion Charts from Tableau Desktop and Tableau Reader to Tableau Server. Please!

More DV Readings from 2013

Data Visualization readings - last 4 months of 2013.

(time to read is shrinking...)

0. The Once and Future Prototyping Tool of Choice
http://tableaufriction.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-once-and-future-prototyping-tool-of.html

1. Block by Block, Brooklyn’s Past and Present
http://bklynr.com/block-by-block-brooklyns-past-and-present/

2. Data Visualization and the Blind
http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?p=1756

3. WHY ABRAHAM LINCOLN LOVED INFOGRAPHICS
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/10/why-abraham-lincoln-loved-infographics.html#

4. Old Charts
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2q8kzdxbac]

5. Back To Basics
http://www.quickintelligence.co.uk/back-to-basics/

6. In-Memory Data Grid Key to TIBCO's Strategy
http://www.datanami.com/datanami/2013-10-21/in-memory_data_grid_key_to_tibco_s_strategy.html

7. Submarine Cable Map
http://visual.ly/submarine-cable-map?view=true

8. Interview with Nate Silver:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/09/nate-silver-on-finding-a-mentor-teaching-yourself-statistics-and-not-settling-in-your-career/

9. Qlikview.Next will be available in 2014
http://apandre.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/qlikview-next/

10. Importance of color?
http://www.qualia.hr/why-is-color-so-important-in-data-visualization/#

11. Qlikview.Next has a gift for Tableau and Datawatch
http://apandre.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/qlik-next-has-gift/

12. (October 2013) Tableau posts 90% revenue gain and tops 1,000 staffers, files for $450 million secondary offering
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/tableau-software/#

13. The Science Of A Great Subway Map
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3020708/evidence/the-science-of-a-great-subway-map

14. SEO Data Visualization with Tableau
http://www.blastam.com/blog/index.php/2013/10/how-to-create-awesome-seo-data-visualization-with-tableau/

15. John Tukey “Badmandments”
http://www.kdnuggets.com/2013/11/john-tukey-badmandments-lessons-from-great-statistician.html#


Supplementary BADMANDMENTS:

• 91. NEVER plan any analysis before seeing the DATA.


• 92. DON'T consult with a statistician until after collecting your data.


• 94. LARGE enough samples always tell the truth

16. Thinking about proper uses of data visualization.
http://data-visualization-software.com/finally-some-clear-thinking-about-proper-uses-of-data-visualization/

17. Big BI is Stuck: Illustrated by SAP BusinessObjects Explorer
http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?p=727

18. IBM (trying to catch up?) bets on big data visualization
http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-bets-on-big-data-visualization-7000022741/

19. Site features draft designs and full views of the Treemap Art project (By Ben Shneiderman)
http://treemapart.wordpress.com/
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemap-history/
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemap/
http://treemapart.wordpress.com/full-views/
http://treemapart.wordpress.com/category/draft-designs/


20. A Guide to the Quality of Different Visualization Venues
http://eagereyes.org/blog/2013/a-guide-to-the-quality-of-different-visualization-venues

21. Short History of (Nothing) Data Science
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2013/05/28/a-very-short-history-of-data-science/

22. Storytelling: Hans Rosling at Global Health - beyond 2015


23. DataWatch Quarterly Review: Rapid Growth Finally Materializing
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1872591-datawatch-quarterly-review-rapid-growth-finally-materializing

24. QlikView Extension – D3 Animated Scatter Chart
http://www.qlikblog.at/2574/qlikview-extension-animated-scatter-chart/



25. SlopeGraph for QlikView (D3SlopeGraph QlikView Extension)
http://www.qlikblog.at/3093/slopegraph-for-qlikview-d3slopegraph-qlikview-extension/

26. Recipe for a Pareto Analysis
http://community.qlikview.com/blogs/qlikviewdesignblog/2013/12/09/pareto-analysis

27. Color has meaning
http://www.juiceanalytics.com/design-principles/color-has-meaning/#


28. TIBCO's Return To License Growth Frustratingly Inconsistent
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1909571-tibcos-return-to-license-growth-frustratingly-inconsistent

29. Automated Semantics and BI
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danwoods/2013/12/30/why-automated-semantics-will-solve-the-bi-dashboard-crisis/

30. What is wrong with definition of Data Science?
http://www.kdnuggets.com/2013/12/what-is-wrong-with-definition-data-science.html


31. Scientific data became so complex, we have to Invent new Math to deal with it
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/topology-data-sets/

32. Samples

Selected Tableau Readings after TCC13

Selected Tableau Readings after TCC13 (since September 18, 2013)

sometimes reading is better then doing or writing...

0. Top 10 sessions from TCC13:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/12/top-10-sessions-tcc13-27292

1. Dual Color Axis:
https://www.interworks.com/blogs/wjones/2013/09/18/create-dual-color-axis-tableau

2. Evaluate models with fresh data using Tableau heat maps:
http://cooldata.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/evaluate-models-with-fresh-data-using-tableau-heat-maps/

3. Tableau Throws a Brick at Traditional BI:
http://www.datanami.com/datanami/2013-09-11/tableau_throws_a_brick_at_traditional_bi.html

4. Easy Empty Local Extracts:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/9/easy-empty-local-extracts-25152

5. Tableau 8.1: Sophisticated Analytics for Sophisticated People:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/9/tableau-81-sophisticated-analytics-sophisticated-people-25177

6. Tableau 8.1 and R (can be interesting for at least 5% of Tableau users):
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/10/tableau-81-and-r-25327
also see:
https://www.interworks.com/blogs/trobeson/2013/11/27/using-r-tableau-81-getting-started
and here:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/r-integration

7. Tableau, When Are You Going to Fix This?
http://www.datarevelations.com/tableau-when-are-you-going-to-fix-this.html

8. Automated PDF Email Distribution of Tableau Views Using PowerShell and Tabcmd:
http://www.interworks.com/blogs/tladd/2013/08/22/automated-pdf-email-distribution-tableau-views-using-powershell-and-tabcmd

9. Geocoding Addresses Directly in Tableau 8.1 Using Integration with R:
http://www.dataplusscience.com/Geocoding%20in%20Tableau%20using%20R.html

10. Best Practices for Designing Efficient Workbooks (and white Paper about it):
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/10/best-practices-designing-efficient-workbooks-25391

11. Tableau Mapping Architecture:
http://urbanmapping.com/tableau/mapping-architecture.html

12. Story Points in Tableau 8.2 presentation mode:
http://eagereyes.org/blog/2013/story-points

13. Truly Global: Filtering Across Multiple Tableau Workbooks with the JavaScript API:
https://www.interworks.com/blogs/tladd/2013/10/24/truly-global-filtering-across-multiple-tableau-workbooks-javascript-api

14. Tableau 8.1 Worksheet, Dashboard menus improved, still room for more:
http://tableaufriction.blogspot.com/2013/10/tv81-beta-3-worksheet-dashboard-menus.html

15. Lollipops Charts in Tableau:
http://drawingwithnumbers.artisart.org/lollipops-for-quality-improvement/

16. Was Stephen Few Right?
http://www.datarevelations.com/was-stephen-few-right-my-problems-with-a-companys-iron-viz-competition.html

17. Precision Inputs Required In Addition To Analog Controls:
http://tableaufriction.blogspot.com/2013/11/precision-inputs-required-in-addition.html

18. Google Spreadsheets to Tableau connector - a working driver:
http://community.tableausoftware.com/thread/135281

19. Leveraging Color to Improve Your Data Visualization:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/blog/2013/10/leveraging-color-improve-your-data-visualization-2174

20. Workbook acts as a container for multiple Tableau-based Charts - 114
Samples and Visualization Types:
http://www.alansmitheepresents.org/2013/07/team-geiger-rides-again.html

21. The New Box-and-Whisker Plot:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/blog/2013/11/box-and-whisker-plots-2231

22. The Tableau Workbook Library:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/11/tableau-workbook-library-27004

23. Customizing Tableau Server Experience (Parts 1, 1.5, 2):
http://ugamarkj.blogspot.com/2013/11/customizing-tableau-server-experience.html
http://ugamarkj.blogspot.com/2013/12/customizing-tableau-server-experience.html
http://ugamarkj.blogspot.com/2013/12/customizing-tableau-server-experience_15.html

24. SAML Integration in Tableau 8.1:
https://www.interworks.com/blogs/daustin/2013/11/27/saml-integration-tableau-81

25. Tableau file types and extensions:
http://www.theinformationlab.co.uk/2013/12/02/tableau-file-types-and-extensions/

26. Tableau Server XML Information Files: The Master Class:
http://tableaulove.tumblr.com/post/69383091006/tableau-server-xml-information-files-the-master-class

27. Is it Transparency? Is it Opacity? Labeled one, works like the other:
http://tableaufriction.blogspot.com/2013/12/is-it-transparency-is-it-opacity.html

28. Viz Hall of Fame:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/about/blog/2013/12/viz-hall-fame-27270

29. Tableau Weekly Archive:
http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/home/?u=f3dd94f15b41de877be6b0d4b&id=d23712a896

30. 2013 Winners:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/blog/2013/12/2013-award-winners-2272
Happy New Year!