This week proved to be an intensive training period in Alteryx, having only previously completed an introductory lesson on the software. The training was extremely helpful, especially as my section for The Information Lab's Training Day focuses on Formulas in Alteryx.
The week began with an overview of the Alteryx Ecosystem, covering the services it provides, including Desktop, Cloud, Cloud Deployments, and Licensing. The focus remained on Alteryx Designer and Server, as these are the only tools used by TIL. We then explored the Pareto Tools, the 20 percent of tools that allow us to complete 80 percent of the work needed for data preparation. This included the In/Out, Preparation, Join, and Transform tools. The learning portion was relatively short, with most of the day spent practicing these tools through Community Challenges.
The next session focused on the Next Level Tools: Transpose, Cross Tab, and Multi Row Formula. These tools are invaluable for restructuring data, enabling aggregations and cross field calculations. The more flexible the data becomes, the more insights can be generated, both within Alteryx and in visualization tools such as Tableau. After working through some straightforward examples, we tackled a few more challenging Community Challenges.
The final Alteryx session focused on Apps, which are workflows with interactive elements that allow users to run analyses without understanding the underlying structure. These are extremely useful for automating analytics processes and providing options for custom analyses. A workflow becomes an app when saved in the yxwz format and enhanced with Interface Tools, allowing users to execute it without building anything themselves. Some of the key principles we learned include starting with a fully functional workflow and clearly identifying the interaction points to include. Exploring the various tools in the Interface Palette was fascinating, as understanding where to place the Action Tool and how to customize the user interface offered a glimpse into the power of Alteryx and the flexibility it provides.
The remainder of the week was dedicated to preparing for the LWTDSL TIL Training Day, where we had a full day to build materials for our 90 minute sessions. My session will cover Formulas in Alteryx, which is particularly convenient given the week’s focus. We also spent a day presenting our drafts in pairs to provide peer feedback, followed by a quick run through with the whole cohort and our coach to discuss progress and identify areas for improvement before the session on 9 October.
Next week looks set to be a busy one, with a return to client projects and each training session focusing on a different tool.