Your learning path
Three paths — one destination. Whether you're downloading Tableau for the first time or preparing for certification, follow the track that meets you where you are.
You've never opened Tableau — or you have, and nothing made sense yet. Start here.
Start learning →You can build a basic dashboard but want to unlock calculations, parameters, and real interactivity.
Level up →You publish regularly and want to go deeper — certification, performance, APIs, and leading others.
Go deep →Seven steps that take you from a blank screen to your first published dashboard on Tableau Public.
Tableau Public is completely free. Go to public.tableau.com, create a free account, and download the desktop app. No credit card, no trial — it's yours to keep.
Open Tableau and connect to the built-in Superstore sample dataset. Drag a dimension to Rows, a measure to Columns, and see a chart appear. Click around. Break things. Nothing is permanent until you save.
Tableau connects to Excel, CSV, Google Sheets, and dozens of databases. Download a Kenya dataset from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics or use any CSV you have. Connect it and explore it.
Don't jump to dashboards yet. Build each chart type individually so you understand when to use each. Aim for one of each: bar chart, line chart, map, scatter plot, and a treemap.
Take three of your charts and combine them on a single dashboard sheet. Add a filter that affects all views. Arrange and size your layout. Resist making it perfect — focus on making it functional.
Go to Server → Tableau Public → Save to Tableau Public. Give it a title and publish. You'll get a public URL you can share anywhere. Copy it. Post it somewhere. It's real — it's yours.
Your next viz will be better than your first. Pick a topic you're genuinely curious about — Nairobi traffic, your own spending, Kenyan climate data, anything. Curiosity is the best teacher. Build it, publish it, share it.
You can build a chart. Now build something that actually does something — calculations, interactivity, and real data prep.
Calculated fields let you create new data from existing fields. Start with simple string and date calculations, then move into IF/THEN logic and ZN functions. These are the building blocks for everything that follows.
LOD expressions are the most powerful feature in Tableau. FIXED lets you compute a value at a different level of detail than the view. INCLUDE and EXCLUDE add or remove dimensions from the calculation. Master these and your analysis capabilities jump dramatically.
Table calculations run after the query — they work on what's already in the view. Use them for running totals, percent of total, moving averages, and rank. Understanding addressing and partitioning is key.
Parameters let your audience control what they see — switch metrics, change date ranges, toggle views. Dashboard actions (filter, highlight, URL) link sheets together so clicking one thing changes another. These two features transform a static dashboard into an experience.
Real data is messy. Tableau Prep Builder lets you clean, reshape, and combine data before it reaches your dashboard. Learn to pivot columns, clean string inconsistencies, and build reusable data flows. Prep is free with your Tableau Public account.
The Tableau Desktop Specialist certification is the official entry-level credential. It validates your ability to connect to data, build core chart types, and understand Tableau's data model. Many Kenyan employers now look for it. The exam is online and costs $250 USD.
You publish regularly. Now optimise, certify, extend, and lead — the path from practitioner to expert.
Push calculations further: REGEXP for pattern matching, deeply nested LOD expressions, WINDOW functions for complex comparisons, and DATEPARSE for handling non-standard date formats. These unlock analysis that most Tableau users think is impossible.
A slow dashboard loses its audience. Learn to use Tableau's Performance Recorder to identify bottlenecks. Understand when to use extracts vs. live connections, how to reduce mark count, and how to structure data for speed rather than convenience.
Tableau 2020.2 introduced relationships as the default data model. Understanding when to use relationships vs. joins vs. blends vs. unions is essential for working with complex, multi-table datasets without creating accidental duplicates or missing data.
Tableau Public is a publishing platform; Tableau Server and Cloud are enterprise deployment options. Learn the differences, explore the Embedding API for embedding vizzes in websites and applications, and understand the REST API for automating publishing and content management.
The Tableau Certified Data Analyst is the intermediate-level credential — a significant step up from the Desktop Specialist. It tests connecting to data, building analyses, and troubleshooting. It's the cert that signals you can operate independently in a professional analytics role.
The final stage of mastery is being able to explain what you know clearly to someone who doesn't know it yet. Speak at a Kenya TUG session. Mentor a beginner in the community Slack. Write a tutorial. Teaching forces you to fill the gaps in your own understanding — and it gives back to the community that helped you grow.
At a glance
A quick reference for what each level covers.
Practice with the community
Our monthly sessions are the fastest way to level up — hands-on workshops, real feedback, and a community of people on the same journey.