What Are Hierarchies in Tableau?

Building an effective Tableau dashboard often means packing a ton of information into a limited space without overwhelming your audience. One of the best ways to do this is by creating hierarchies, a simple feature that lets users explore data from a high-level overview all the way down to granular details. This article will show you exactly what hierarchies are, why they’re so useful, and how to create them in just a few clicks.

What Exactly is a Hierarchy in Tableau?

In Tableau, a hierarchy is a structure that logically organizes related fields. Think of it like a set of Russian nesting dolls for your data. You start with the largest doll (the most general category) and open it up to reveal smaller and smaller dolls (more specific sub-categories). This creates a natural "drill-down" path within your dashboards.

The most common example is a geographic hierarchy:

• Country
• State/Province
• City
• Postal Code

When you use a hierarchy in a visualization, Tableau displays the top-level field first (e.g., Country). On that field's pill in your view, you'll see a small "+" icon. When a user clicks it, Tableau "drills down" to the next level in the hierarchy (State/Province) and expands the view to show the data for each state within each country. Clicking the "+" again drills down to the City level, and so on. A "-" icon also appears, allowing users to "drill up" and collapse the view back to a higher level. This makes your visualizations interactive and empowers users to explore the data on their own terms.

Why Bother Using Hierarchies?

Hierarchies might seem like a small detail, but they are a fundamental building block of good dashboard design. They solve several common reporting problems and dramatically improve the user experience.

1. They Reduce Dashboard Clutter

Instead of creating three separate charts to show sales by region, sales by state, and sales by city, you can create one single chart that uses a geographic hierarchy. This saves valuable dashboard real estate and organizes your analysis into one cohesive view. A user can start with a clean, high-level summary and then choose to see more detail if they need it, keeping the initial dashboard view simple and easy to understand.

2. They Create an Intuitive User Experience

Drilling down into data is a natural way to explore information. It mimics how we think, moving from a general idea to specific examples. By embedding this capability directly into your charts, you make your dashboards more intuitive and engaging. Users don't have to hunt for different filters or toggle between multiple worksheets, they can simply click to explore, making the data feel more accessible and less intimidating, especially for non-technical audiences.

3. They Help Uncover Deeper Insights

Some of the most valuable insights are found by comparing performance across different levels of detail. For example, a high-level view might show that overall sales in the "Technology" category are strong. But by drilling down into the sub-categories, you might discover that while "Phones" are selling extremely well, "Accessories" are performing poorly. This kind of nuanced insight is often missed in static, high-level reports and is easily revealed through a hierarchical structure.

How to Create a Hierarchy in Tableau (Step-by-Step)

Creating a hierarchy is one of the easiest things you can do in Tableau. It’s a simple drag-and-drop process that takes just a few seconds. We'll use the Sample - Superstore dataset that comes with Tableau for this example.

Let's create a product hierarchy: Category > Sub-Category > Product Name

Step 1: Locate Your Fields

In the Data pane on the left side of your screen, find the fields you want to group together. In this case, find Category, Sub-Category, and Product Name.

Step 2: Create the Base of the Hierarchy

Click and drag the Sub-Category field directly on top of the Category field in the Data pane. Don't let go until you see a solid gray line or box appear around the Category field.

When you release the mouse button, the "Create Hierarchy" dialog box will appear. Here, you can give your hierarchy a meaningful name. Let's call it "Product." Click OK.

You’ll now see a new "Product" hierarchy in your Data pane containing both Category and Sub-Category.

Step 3: Add More Levels

Now, we want to add the most granular level, Product Name. Find the Product Name field in the Data pane. Drag it and drop it directly into the "Product" hierarchy you just created. Make sure to drop it underneath Sub-Category. A black line will appear to show you where it will be placed.

The order here is very important! It determines the drill-down path. Your hierarchy should now look like this, with the fields ordered from most general to most specific:

1. Category
2. Sub-Category
3. Product Name

Step 4: Use the Hierarchy in Your View

Now for the fun part. Let's use it on a sheet.

• Drag the entire Product hierarchy from the Data pane and drop it onto the Rows shelf.
• Drag the Sales measure onto the Columns shelf.

You will now see a bar chart showing Sales by Category, the highest level of your hierarchy. Notice the little "+" symbol on the "Category" pill in the Rows shelf.

Click that "+" symbol. The view instantly expands to show the Sub-Category level within each Category. Click the "+" next to Sub-Category, and it drills down again to show individual Product Names. To collapse the view, just click the "-" symbol.

Managing and Editing Hierarchies

Once you've created a hierarchy, you’re not stuck with it. You can easily modify it at any time from the Data pane.

• Reordering Levels: If you created your hierarchy in the wrong order, simply drag the fields up or down within the hierarchy definition in the Data pane to rearrange them.
• Removing a Field: Don't need a certain level anymore? Right-click the field within the hierarchy in the Data pane and select Remove from Hierarchy.
• Renaming: To rename the entire hierarchy, just right-click its name in the Data pane and choose Rename.

More Practical Examples of Hierarchies

Hierarchies can be applied in almost any analytical context. Here are a few more common examples to get you thinking about your own data:

• Date & Time Hierarchy:
• Organizational Structure:
• Marketing Funnel:

Pro-Tips for Using Hierarchies

While creating hierarchies is easy, using them effectively takes a bit of thought. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

1. Ensure the Order is Logical

The success of a hierarchy depends entirely on its order. It must follow an intuitive top-down path from general to specific. An illogical order (e.g., City > Country > State) will confuse users and make the drill-down experience meaningless.

2. Don't Go Overboard

Just because you can add ten levels to a hierarchy doesn't mean you should. A drill-down path that's too deep becomes cumbersome to navigate. For most situations, 3 to 5 levels are plenty. If you need more detail, it might be an indicator that a separate dashboard or view is a better solution.

3. Combine with Other Tableau Features

Hierarchies become even more powerful when used alongside other Tableau functionality. For example, you can create a map view with a geographic hierarchy and then use a filter to focus on a specific product category. This allows users to slice and dice the data in multiple dimensions, drilling down geographically while also filtering by product attributes.

Final Thoughts

Tableau hierarchies are a simple yet incredibly powerful tool for adding depth and interactivity to your dashboards. They allow you to present complex data in a clean, uncluttered way while giving your users the freedom to explore insights at the level of detail that matters most to them.

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