I struggled mightily with this week's #MakeoverMonday. My goals was to replicate the original visualization by Bloomberg.

I knew I need to create path to connect the US at the center to each country.

I wanted to make the US the center of the of the map.

• I overthought the data prep.
• I forgot how to create the paths.
• I couldn't get the math right to offset the longitude.

The coloring and labeling was straightforward for me.

Adding the US as a circle in the middle was pretty simple.

• I looked at a previous visualization I created using paths.

• I opened the workbook and the data to see the configuration.
• I replicated that set up by adding a second set of records to the data set.
• Viewers on the livestream helped me figure out the math to offset the longitude.

The simplest way to explain the location of each country is to think of the lat/lon for the US as 0,0. Then you compare that to the lat/lon for every other country to create the offset.

I got there in the end. What do you think? Was the juice worth the squeeze?

Click the image below to access the viz. 

Cycle plots are a fantastic way to identify seasonality in a data set. And you can make them even more useful by adding indicators for whether they are above or below the average.

Here's how you can do that in Tableau in only 2 minutes.

Like this? You'll love Next-Level Tableau. Learn more at nextleveltableau.com.

During Watch Me Viz, I covered set actions, parameter actions, highlighting, boolean calculations, table calculation, dashboard layout, and I failed at a starburst chart (I couldn't get the years to sort properly; I'll post it when I figure it out).

Enjoy! Check out the viz below the video.

Makeover Monday is back! Every Monday I'll be running a #WatchMeViz and every Wednesday, Eva will be running #VizReview. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for reminders of the latest events.

https://youtube.com/andykriebel

This week was a makeover of a visualization by Visual Capitalist about the top 10 military spenders. During Watch Me Viz, I iterated through 15 different charts before settling on a bump chart. If you want to learn about sets, parameters, table calculations, containers and more, watch the video below.

Below the video you can see my viz, or click here. Enjoy! If you need clarifications on anything, please comment on the video here.

Context is important in data visualization. For every chart you create, consider asking yourself "compared to what?" 

In this tip, I show you how to add context to a simple bar chart by showing whether a value is above or below the average.

The original viz for this week was so good that I struggled to come up with something different. In the end, I wanted to learn by recreating the original. Check out #WatchMeViz and interact with the viz below.

1. Using a set action to click on a region and sort a stacked bar chart based on that region, then use a highlight action to deselect the region selected. 
2. Using a set action to compare quarterly sales to the sales of a selected quarter. Then use a highlight action to deselect the quarter selected.