With an overview of the interface, you are now ready to build a dashboard by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Superstore Sales sheet. You should see a blank dashboard.
2. Successively double-click each of the following sheets listed in the Dashboard section on the left: Sales by Department, Sales over time, and Sales by Postal Code. Notice that double-clicking the object adds it to the layout of the dashboard.
3. Add a title to the dashboard by checking Show Dashboard title in the lower left of the sidebar.
4. Select the Sales by Department sheet in the dashboard and click the drop-down arrow to show the menu.
5. Select Fit | Entire View. The Fit options describe how the visualization should fill any available space.

6. Select the Sales size legend by clicking it. Use the Remove UI element to remove the legend from the dashboard.
7. Select the Profit color legend by clicking it. Use the grip to drag the legend, and place it under the map.

8. For each view (Sales by Department, Sales by Postal Code, and Sales over time), select the view by clicking an empty area in the view. Then, click the Use as Filter UI element to make that view an interactive filter for the dashboard. Your dashboard should look similar to this:

9. Take a moment to interact with your dashboard. Click on various marks, such as the bars, states, and points of the line. Notice that each selection filters the rest of the dashboard. Clicking a selected mark will deselect it and clear the filter. Notice also that selecting marks in multiple views causes filters to work together. For example, selecting the bar for Furniture in Sales by Department and the 2016 Q1 in Sales over time allows you to see all the ZIP codes that had furniture sales in the first quarter of 2016.

Congratulations! You have now created a dashboard that allows for interactive analysis!

As an analyst for the Superstore chain, your visualizations allowed you to explore and analyze the data. The dashboard you created can be shared with members of management, and it can be used as a tool to help them see and understand the data to make better decisions. When a manager selects the furniture department, it immediately becomes obvious that there are locations where sales are quite high but the profit is actually very low. This may lead to decisions such as a change in marketing or a new sales focus for that location. Most likely, this will require additional analysis to determine the best course of action. In this case, Tableau will empower you to continue the cycle of discovery, analysis, and storytelling.