How to Make a Tableau Dashboard Interactive

A static dashboard tells you what happened, but an interactive one lets your audience discover why it happened. Transforming a flat report into a dynamic tool invites users to explore the data, ask their own questions, and uncover insights for themselves. This article will walk you through the essential techniques for making your Tableau dashboards interactive using filters, parameters, and actions.

Why Bother With an Interactive Tableau Dashboard?

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." A static dashboard is a one-way street, it presents information, and that's it. An interactive dashboard is a conversation with your data. The benefits are substantial:

• Deeper Engagement: When users can click, filter, and drill down, they're more likely to stay engaged and actively explore the data instead of just passively viewing it.
• Personalized Views: Interactivity allows different users to tailor the dashboard to their specific needs. A regional manager can filter for their territory, while a product manager can focus on their product line, all from the same dashboard.
• Reduced Reporting Burden: Instead of creating dozens of separate reports for every possible question, you can build one versatile dashboard that empowers users to find their own answers. This is the foundation of self-service analytics.

The Building Blocks of Interactivity in Tableau

Tableau offers three primary tools to bring your dashboards to life: Filters, Parameters, and Actions. Let's break down what each one does and how you can use it.

1. Filters: The Easiest Way to Slice Your Data

Filters are the most common and straightforward way to add interactivity. They allow users to include or exclude data from a view based on a selected dimension or measure. Think of them as on-demand controls for what data is displayed.

Types of Filters

Tableau provides several filter styles, each suited for different scenarios:

• Single Value (List): A radio button list where a user can only select one option at a time. Perfect for choosing a single region or category.
• Multiple Values (List): A checklist of options, allowing users to select several items at once.
• Single Value (Dropdown): A compact dropdown menu for selecting one option. Great for saving space on a cluttered dashboard.
• Slider: A visual slider for filtering quantitative data, like a date range or a sales amount.
• Relative Date: A powerful filter for time-series data, allowing users to quickly select presets like "Previous 7 Days," "Last Month," or "Year to Date."

How to Add a Filter to a Dashboard

Adding a filter is a simple, two-step process: you first add it to an individual worksheet, and then expose it on the dashboard.

Step 1: Add the Filter to the Worksheet

1. Open your Tableau workbook and go to the worksheet containing the chart you want to filter.
2. In the Data pane on the left, find the field you want to use as a filter (e.g., 'Region' or 'Product Category').
3. Drag that field onto the Filters shelf.
4. A dialog box will appear. Select the members you want to include initially (you can select all for now) and click OK.

Step 2: Show the Filter on the Dashboard

1. Navigate to the dashboard where your worksheet is placed.
2. Click on the worksheet you just added the filter to. You should see a gray border appear around it.
3. Click the small dropdown arrow (▼) in the top-right corner of the selected worksheet container.
4. Go to Filters, and you'll see a list of the fields you've added to the Filters shelf. Click on the one you just added (e.g., 'Region').
5. The filter control will now appear on your dashboard! You can click its own dropdown menu to change its format (e.g., from a list to a dropdown) or to make it apply to other worksheets on the dashboard.

Now, users can interact with this filter control to change the data displayed in the corresponding chart on the dashboard. Simple and effective!

2. Parameters: Giving Users Control Beyond Simple Filtering

If filters let users control what data they see, parameters let users control how they see it. A parameter is a dynamic value that a user can change, which you can then incorporate into calculations, reference lines, or filters. They unlock a much higher level of interactivity.

Common uses for parameters include:

• Letting users switch between different metrics in a chart (e.g., showing Sales vs. Profit).
• Allowing users to set a dynamic goal or target line (e.g., "Show all sales above a target of $5,000").
• Creating "what-if" scenarios (e.g., "What would our revenue be with a 10% price increase?").

Example: Creating a Parameter to Switch Measures

Let's walk through creating a common user request: a bar chart that can be switched between showing 'Sales' and 'Profit'.

Step 1: Create the Parameter

1. In the Data pane, click the dropdown arrow next to the search bar and select Create Parameter.
2. Name your parameter, for example, "Choose a Measure".
3. Set the Data type to String.
4. Under Allowable values, select List.
5. In the "List of values" table, add two values: 'Sales' and 'Profit'.
6. Click OK. You'll now see your parameter listed at the bottom of the Data pane under a "Parameters" section.

Step 2: Create a Calculated Field to Use the Parameter

A parameter doesn't do anything on its own, it needs to be linked to the data via a calculated field.

1. Right-click in the Data pane and select Create Calculated Field.
2. Name it something like "Selected Measure".
3. Enter the following formula:

CASE [Choose a Measure]
  WHEN "Sales" THEN [Sales]
  WHEN "Profit" THEN [Profit]
END

This calculation checks the current value of your parameter and returns the corresponding measure.

1. Click OK.

Step 3: Build the View and Show the Parameter Control

1. Drag a dimension (like 'Sub-Category') to the Columns shelf.
2. Drag your new calculated field, "Selected Measure," to the Rows shelf.
3. Right-click your "Choose a Measure" parameter in the bottom-left pane and select Show Parameter.

And that's it! A control box will appear on your worksheet (and subsequently on your dashboard). Now users can use the radio buttons to swap the entire chart between displaying total sales and total profit.

3. Actions: Making Your Charts Talk to Each Other

Actions are the key to making different parts of your dashboard dynamically respond to user interaction. An action is a rule you set that says, "When a user does X on this sheet, do Y on that sheet." Actions create a truly guided and intuitive analytical experience.

The three main action types are Filter, Highlight, and URL.

Filter Actions: Use a Chart as a Filter

This is probably the most powerful and widely-used dashboard action. It allows a user to click on a mark (like a bar, a state on a map, or a point on a scatter plot) and use that selection to filter other visualizations on the dashboard.

How to Set up a Filter Action

1. Navigate to your completed dashboard.
2. From the top menu, go to Dashboard > Actions...
3. In the Actions dialog box, click Add Action > Filter...
4. Give your action a descriptive name, like "Filter Sales Details from Map."
5. Under Source Sheets, select the sheet that users will click on first (e.g., your Map worksheet). For Run action on, usually, Select is the most intuitive option (it runs when the user clicks).
6. Under Target Sheets, select the sheet(s) you want to be filtered (e.g., your Sales by Sub-Category bar chart).
7. For Clearing the selection will, choose whether the filtered chart should show all values again, exclude all values, or leave the filter as-is. Show all values is the most common choice.
8. Click OK twice to close the windows.

Now, when a user clicks on a state in your map, the bar chart will instantly update to show the sales details for only that selected state.

Highlight Actions

Highlight actions work similarly to filter actions, but instead of filtering out non-selected data, they simply dim it, bringing the selected data to the forefront. This is useful for drawing attention to relationships in the data without losing the overall context.

The setup is nearly identical to a Filter Action. Just go to Dashboard > Actions > Add Action > Highlight... and configure the source and target sheets in the same way.

URL Actions

URL Actions allow you to embed hyperlinks into your dashboard. When a user clicks on a product name, you can direct them to that product's detail page on your company website, or if they click an author's name, it could open a Google search for that author.

To set up a URL Action:

1. Go to Dashboard > Actions > Add Action > Go to URL...
2. Name your action, such as "Search for Product."
3. Select the Source Sheet.
4. In the URL input box, you can type a web address. The magic happens when you use dynamic values from your data. Click the arrow icon (►) to the right of the box to insert a field from your data, like <Product Name>.
5. For example, to create a Google search link, you could use: http://www.google.com/search?q=<Product Name>.
6. Click OK. Now, clicking on a product name in your chart will open a new browser tab with a search for that item.

Best Practices for Building Intuitive Dashboards

Creating interactive elements is one thing, creating an intuitive experience is another. Keep these tips in mind as you build:

• Start with a Goal: Don't add interactivity for its own sake. Think about the questions your audience will have and design the filters and actions to help them answer those specific questions.
• Keep it Simple: "Dashboard paralysis" is real. Too many filters and actions can overwhelm users. A good dashboard guides a user's analysis, it doesn't present an endless web of options.
• Provide Instructions: A simple text box with instructions like "Click a state to filter the details below" can dramatically improve usability for new users.
• Use Tooltips: Tooltips provide additional information about your graph when a mouse hovers over a piece of a chart. Enhance them to provide extra context. You can edit tooltips to include more measures or explanatory text that appears when a user hovers over a data point.
• Performance Matters: Complex filter actions across multiple, large datasets can slow down your dashboard's performance. Always test how quickly your dashboard responds and consider ways to optimize it if it feels sluggish.

Final Thoughts

By mastering Filters, Parameters, and Actions, you can turn any Tableau report from a static image into a powerful, interactive analytical application. This empowers your audience to drill down into the data, explore their own curiosity, and find meaningful insights that a static report might have missed.

While learning the ins and outs of Tableau is a valuable skill, it comes with a steep learning curve. At Graphed, we recognized that not everyone has the time to become a BI expert. We built a platform that removes the technical barriers by allowing you to create shareable, real-time dashboards just by describing what you want to see. Instead of manually configuring filter actions and calculated fields, you can just ask, "Show me my sales by region, and let me filter by product category." We're here to help you get straight to the insights, without the steep learning curve.