We'll consider another example dashboard which demonstrates slightly different objectives. Let's say everyone in the organization has agreed upon a key performance indicator of Profit Ratio KPI. Furthermore, there is consensus that the cut-off between an acceptable and poor profit ratio is 15.00% but management would like to have the option of adjusting the value dynamically to see if other targets might be better.

Consider the following dashboard:

This dashboard allows your audience to very quickly evaluate the performance of each region over the last 6 months. Executive management could very quickly pull this dashboard up on their mobile device and take appropriate action as needed.

The dashboard provides interactivity with the KPI target parameter. Additional means of drilling down into other dashboards or views could be provided if desired. If this view were published on Tableau Server, it is not unreasonable to think that regional managers might subscribe to the view and receive a scheduled e-mail containing an up-to-date image of this dashboard.

Let's consider how to create a similar dashboard:

1. Create a float type parameter named Profit Ratio KPI Target set to an initial .15 and format it as a percentage.
2. Create a calculation named Profit Ratio with the code SUM([Profit]) / SUM([Sales]). This is an aggregate calculation that will divide the sum of profit by the sum of sales at the level of detail defined in the view.
3. Create a second calculation named KPI - Profit Ratio with the code:

      IF [Profit Ratio] >= [Profit Ratio KPI Target] 
      THEN "Acceptable" 
      ELSE "Poor" 
      END 

This code will compare the profit ratio to the parameterized cut-off value. Anything equal to or above the cut-off will get the value of Acceptable and everything below will get the value of Poor.

4. Create a new sheet named Region Scorecard. The view consists of Region on Rows, Order Date as a discrete date part on Columns, and the AGG (KPI - Profit Ratio) field on both shape and color. You'll observe that the shapes have been edited to use checkmarks and Xs and the color palette is using color-blind-safe blue and orange.
5. Column Grand Totals have been added using the Analytics pane and custom-formatted with a custom label of Overall, bold font, and light gray shading.

6. Order Date has been added as a filter and is set to the Top 6 by field (Order Date as Min). This will dynamically filter the view to the last 6 months:

7. Create another sheet named Profit Ratio by Region.
8. Use the drop-down menu on Region to navigate to Geographic Role | Create from... | State. This tells Tableau to treat Region as a geographic field based on its relationship with the geographic field, State.
9. Double-click the Region field in the data pane. Tableau will automatically generate a geographic visualization based on Region. We'll examine the creation of custom geographies in more detail in Chapter 10, Advanced Visualizations, Techniques, Tricks, and Trips.
10. Place Profit Ratio on Color and also Label. You will also want to format Profit Ratio as a percentage. You may do so by formatting the field in this view specifically or by setting the default number format for the field in the data pane (the latter is probably preferred as you will almost always want it to display as a percentage).
11. Additionally, add Region to Label. Rearrange the fields in the marks card to reorder the label or click the Label shelf to edit the label text directly.

12. Apply the same filter to this view as you did to the Region Scorecard view. You may wish to navigate to the Region Scorecard sheet and use the drop-down on Order Date on the Filters shelf to apply the existing filter to multiple sheets.

Once both views have been created, the dashboard can be constructed by arranging the two sheets, parameter control, and text appropriately. The example in the Chapter 07 Completed workbook has a phone layout applied.