Tableau Tuesdays

A Beginner's Guide to Data Storytelling

Based on Chart Spark by Alli Torban - three simple habits for the CARE stage of the creative process, before you even start building a chart.

Mary Kinya · July 7, 2026

Design Beginner Tableau Tuesdays

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Mary Kinya Tableau Tuesdays presenter · Kenya TUG

Mary leads Tableau Tuesdays, the weekly community sessions where members break down tricky Tableau concepts together. This one turns Alli Torban's Chart Spark into a hands-on guide for the community.

Tableau Tuesdays

Building Interactive Tableau Dashboards

Using parameters and dynamic inputs to create better user experiences - dynamic thresholds, top-N filtering, what-if analysis, metric swapping and unit conversion.

Paulet Wairagu · June 30, 2026

Parameters Intermediate Tableau Tuesdays

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Paulet Wairagu Kenya TUG community member

Paulet enjoys turning static dashboards into flexible tools people actually want to use. Parameters are her go-to feature for closing the gap between what a dashboard shows and what each user actually needs.

Level of Detail for Dummies · Tableau Tuesdays

Level of Detail Expressions

How to make Tableau compute a number at any level you want - INCLUDE, EXCLUDE, and FIXED explained from scratch.

Mary Kinya · June 14, 2026

Calculations Intermediate Tableau Tuesdays

TABLEAU TUESDAYS

BEGINNER SERIES

Level Of Detail,
explained.

#DataFam #KenyaTUG #Tableau

tableauuser groupsNairobi

THE PROBLEM

Your chart can only
answer one question at a time.

You build a chart grouped by Region.
Tableau totals everything by Region since that's all it knows.

Then your boss asks:
"What's the average spend per customer?"

That's a different question. At a different level.
Tableau can't answer it from a Region chart. Not without help.

LOD = Level of Detail

A way to tell Tableau: "Calculate this at a different level than what's on the chart." That's the whole idea.

THINK OF IT THIS WAY

Like a cashier who only
sees the daily total.

A cashier prints one receipt at the end of the day, the grand total.

You ask: "How much did customer Jane spend?"
The cashier says: "I only have the total."

An LOD expression is like giving that cashier a separate notebook that tracks each customer, even while the till still shows the daily total.

😕 Without LOD

Tableau only calculates at your chart level. You're stuck with the wrong number.

✅ With LOD

You tell Tableau exactly which level to use - separately from the chart.

OUR DATA

USED IN EVERY EXAMPLE THAT FOLLOWS

6 orders · 4 customers · 2 regions

Region	Customer	Order	Sales
East	Alice	#1	150
East	Alice	#2	150
East	Bob	#1	100
West	Carol	#1	400
West	Dan	#1	100
West	Dan	#2	100

EAST TOTAL

400

Alice 300 · Bob 100

WEST TOTAL

600

Carol 400 · Dan 200

⚠ Alice has 2 orders, Bob has 1. This causes the wrong average - as you'll see next.

THE ONE RULE

Every LOD question
has two levels inside it.

One is your chart - What Tableau is already showing.
One is the missing piece - What you actually need.

Find both, then ask where the missing one sits.

INCLUDE

Missing level is more detailed than your chart

EXCLUDE

Missing level is less detailed than your chart

FIXED

Value must stay locked no matter what the chart shows

INCLUDE

WHEN YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE DETAILED

"Average spend per customer,
shown by region"

Your chart is at Region level.

The missing piece is at Customer level which is more detailed. So you INCLUDE Customer.

ORDER
most detailed

CUSTOMER

REGION
your chart

How to remember it

Customer is more detailed (finer) than Region. You're pulling in something your chart doesn't have. You're including a finer level.

INCLUDE IN ACTION

Why the obvious answer is wrong.

Region	Customer	Order	Sales
East	Alice	#1	150
East	Alice	#2	150
East	Bob	#1	100
West	Carol	#1	400
West	Dan	#1	100
West	Dan	#2	100

✕ Without LOD · AVG(Sales) by Region

East shows 133. That's (150+150+100)÷3 = avg of 3 orders. Not customers. Alice's extra order skews the result.

✅ With INCLUDE · average of customers

Sums per customer: Alice=300, Bob=100. Then (300+100)÷2 = 200. East=200, West=300. Correct.

Read as: "For each Customer, sum their Sales. Then average those, by Region."

INCLUDE - THE NUMBERS

133 vs 200. One is a lie.

✕ ORDERS AVERAGED

Order #1

150

Order #2

150

Order #3

100

133

3 orders, wrong denominator

✅ CUSTOMERS AVERAGED

Alice

300

Bob

100

200

2 customers, right denominator

The 67-point gap exists only because Alice has 2 orders.

INCLUDE forces Tableau to group by customer first, so the order count stops mattering.

AVG( { INCLUDE [Customer] : SUM([Sales]) } )

EXCLUDE

WHEN YOU NEED SOMETHING LESS DETAILED

"Each customer's share
of their region's total"

Your chart is at Customer level.

To calculate a %, you need the Region total, which is broader.
So you EXCLUDE Customer from the denominator.

ORDER
most detailed

CUSTOMER
your chart

REGION
← need this

Think of it as zooming out

Your chart is at Customer level. The regional total is one level above. EXCLUDE temporarily zooms out to get that number then brings it back for the division.

EXCLUDE IN ACTION

Each customer's share of their region.

Region	Customer	Order	Sales
East	Alice	#1	150
East	Alice	#2	150
East	Bob	#1	100
West	Carol	#1	400
West	Dan	#1	100
West	Dan	#2	100

✕ Without EXCLUDE

SUM([Sales])÷SUM([Sales]) = 100% for everyone. Dividing a number by itself - there's no way to reach the regional total from a customer row.

✅ With EXCLUDE · Alice=75%, Bob=25%

EXCLUDE drops Customer from the denominator, rolling up to Region. Alice=300÷400=75%. Bob=100÷400=25%. Adds to 100%. ✓

FIXED

WHEN THE VALUE MUST STAY LOCKED

"How many customers spent
over 250 in total, by region?"

The customer total must be calculated at Customer level and stay there, even when Customer leaves the chart.

INCLUDE and EXCLUDE both react to the chart.

FIXED ignores the chart entirely.

Like writing in permanent marker

FIXED calculates its value before Tableau draws the chart. Change the chart, add filters, remove dimensions - that value doesn't move. It's locked.

FIXED IN ACTION

Without FIXED, the chart breaks the count.

Customer	FIXED Total	Over 250?	Region
Alice	300	✓ Yes	East
Bob	100	✗ No	East
Carol	400	✓ Yes	West
Dan	200	✗ No	West

✕ Without FIXED

Remove Customer from view → SUM becomes region total. East=400 → flagged. West=600 → flagged. Regions pass the test, not customers. Wrong.

✅ With FIXED → East: 1, West: 1

Customer totals locked before chart draws. Alice ✓, Carol ✓. Bob and Dan don't qualify. Correct count survives the view change.

COUNTD( IF { FIXED [Customer]:SUM([Sales])}>250 THEN [Customer] END )

THE CHEAT SHEET

Two steps. Every time.

Define what level is on your chart, then what level is missing.

Where does the missing level sit?

More detailed → INCLUDE

Less detailed → EXCLUDE

Must ignore the chart → FIXED

TEST YOURSELF

Read the question. Which LOD?

"Average order value per customer, shown by region"

INCLUDE

"Each product's share of its category total"

EXCLUDE

"Customers whose total spend ever exceeded 500"

FIXED

"Max sales per order, summarised by salesperson"

INCLUDE

"Each region's contribution to the company total"

EXCLUDE

Spotted the pattern? It's always about where the missing level sits.

THAT'S THE WHOLE GAME

Two levels?
Reach for a LOD.

Next time a formula gives you the wrong number, stop and ask:

"What are the two levels hiding in this question?"

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1 /

Mary Kinya Tableau Tuesdays presenter · Kenya TUG

Mary leads Tableau Tuesdays, the weekly community sessions where members break down tricky Tableau concepts together. LOD expressions are her personal favourite feature.

Tableau Tuesdays

Aggregation in Tableau vs SQL

One concept. Two tools. Completely different behavior - and why it matters for every number on your dashboard.

Tonny Kithinji · June 23, 2026

SQL Aggregation Intermediate

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Tonny Kithinji Tableau Tuesdays presenter · Kenya TUG

Tonny is a data professional in Kenya's energy sector. He first met Tableau in school but fell in love with its power when faced with complex real-world data. His sessions are known for making technical concepts immediately practical.

Tableau Tuesdays

Which Tableau Certification Is Worth It in 2026?

Cost, format, and payoff for all 5 official certifications, plus a 1-month study plan that fits around a full-time job.

Paulet Wairagu · July 22, 2026

Career Beginner Tableau Tuesdays

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Paulet Wairagu Tableau User Group Lead · Kenya TUG

Paulet is a Data Analyst at UN-Habitat and the new lead of Kenya TUG. She put together this breakdown of all 5 Tableau certifications - cost, format and career payoff - so the community can pick the right badge without wasting money or months on the wrong one.

✍️

Write for us

Got a Tableau tip, career story, or viz breakdown? To publish a post, reach out to us and we will share the template. How? Email us.

Blogs &Insights

A Beginner's Guide to Data Storytelling

Building Interactive Tableau Dashboards

Level of Detail Expressions

Level Of Detail,explained.

Your chart can onlyanswer one question at a time.

Like a cashier who onlysees the daily total.

6 orders · 4 customers · 2 regions

Every LOD questionhas two levels inside it.

"Average spend per customer,shown by region"

Why the obvious answer is wrong.

133 vs 200. One is a lie.

"Each customer's shareof their region's total"

Each customer's share of their region.

"How many customers spentover 250 in total, by region?"

Without FIXED, the chart breaks the count.

Two steps. Every time.

Read the question. Which LOD?

Two levels?Reach for a LOD.

Aggregation in Tableau vs SQL

Which Tableau Certification Is Worth It in 2026?

Write for us

Blogs &
Insights

Level Of Detail,
explained.

Your chart can only
answer one question at a time.

Like a cashier who only
sees the daily total.

Every LOD question
has two levels inside it.

"Average spend per customer,
shown by region"

"Each customer's share
of their region's total"

"How many customers spent
over 250 in total, by region?"

Two levels?
Reach for a LOD.