A Radial Infograph, besides known as a Radial Chart or Circular Bar Chart, is a type of data presentation in which information is shown in a radial form rather than using a linear axis as it happens in other types. This way helps to show cycles in information or make your presentation more interesting. It is especially powerful when representing data through periods like months in one year or hours per day.

How to Create a Radial Infograph in Tableau

Creating a Radial Infograph in Tableau involves several steps and requires some creativity in using Tableau’s features. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Prepare Your Data

Ensure your data is structured appropriately for radial visualization. For this example, let’s assume you have a dataset with the following columns:

• Category: The category to display (e.g., months, product types)
• Value: The metric to display in the radial format (e.g., sales, number of events)

Step 2: Load Data into Tableau

1. Open Tableau and connect to your dataset.
2. Drag your dataset into the Data pane.

Step 3: Create Calculated Fields for Radial Layout

1. Angle Calculation:
   • Create a calculated field named Angle to determine the position of each category around the circle.
   • Use the formula: INDEX() * (2 * PI() / SIZE())
   • This formula calculates the angle for each data point based on its index and the total number of points.
2. X and Y Coordinates:
   • Create calculated fields for X and Y coordinates.
   • X: SIN([Angle]) * [Value]
   • Y: COS([Angle]) * [Value]

Step 4: Build the Radial Chart

1. Place Calculated Fields on Columns and Rows:
   • Drag the X calculated field to the Columns shelf.
   • Drag the Y calculated field to the Rows shelf.
2. Convert to Circle Mark:
   • Change the mark type to Circle for a better visual representation.
3. Add Category and Value to Detail:
   • Drag Category to the Detail shelf to distinguish between different categories.
   • Drag Value to the Size shelf to vary the size of the circles based on the value.

Step 5: Enhance the Visualization

1. Adjust Size and Color:
   • Adjust the size and color of the circles for better visual appeal and clarity.
   • Drag Category to the Color shelf to assign different colors to different categories.
2. Add Labels:
   • Drag Category to the Label shelf to display the category names on the circles.
   • Adjust the labels for better readability.
3. Format the Chart:
   • Format the axes to remove unnecessary lines and labels.
   • Customize the background and overall chart appearance to make it more visually appealing.

Step 6: Final Touches

1. Tooltips:
   • Customize the tooltip to provide additional information when hovering over the data points.
2. Title and Description:
   • Add a title and description to the chart to provide context to the viewers.