Facets are one of the powerful features in Tableau. Edward Tufte, a pioneer in the field of information graphics, championed these types of charts, also called grid or panel charts; he called them small multiples. These charts show the same measure(s) across various values of one or two variables for easier comparison.
Let's use the sample file Sample – Coffee Chain (Access)
. Open a new worksheet and select Sample – Coffee Chain (Access) as the data source.
Once the data file is loaded on the new worksheet, perform the following steps to create a simple faceted chart:
When there is one dimension on one of the shelves, either Columns or Rows, and one measure on the other shelf, Tableau creates a univariate bar chart, but when we drop additional dimensions along with the measure, Tableau creates small charts or facets and displays univariate charts broken down by a dimension.
A company named Juice Analytics has a great blog article on the topic of small multiples. This article lists the benefits of using small multiples as well as some examples of small multiples in practice. Find this blog at http://www.juiceanalytics.com/writing/better-know-visualization-small-multiples/.