https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/roshan.desai/viz/WOW2025WK42/Dashboard?publish=yes
This week’s Workout Wednesday explores a concept that feels simple on the surface but quickly becomes more interesting the further you get into it: dynamic dimension colouring.
Instead of fixing colour to a single dimension, the user is given control. They can choose whether the dashboard is coloured by Region, Category, Segment, or Year, and that selection updates every chart at once.
Building the Parameter
The starting point was with a parameter to capture the user’s selection, and that parameter feeds into a calculated field that returns the relevant dimension. In effect, you are creating a single field that can behave like multiple dimensions depending on what the user chooses.
Once that field is placed on colour, the dashboard appear. Each chart responds dynamically, and you get the impression of a flexible, user-driven design rather than a fixed set of views.
Adding a highlight action allows users to hover over one chart and see that interaction reflected across the others. It’s a small addition, but it fundamentally changes how the dashboard is experienced.
Highlighting
Each chart in the dashboard is built on a different dimension. One shows Region, another Category, another Segment. Under normal circumstances, Tableau relies on shared fields to link highlight actions, so there is no obvious way to connect these views.
This is where the dynamic dimension calculation becomes more than just a colouring tool. By using that same calculated field across every chart, it effectively becomes a shared layer that Tableau can use to link interactions.
Once the highlight action is configured using this field, the dashboard feels unified. Hovering over a value in one chart now carries meaning across all others, even though they are built on entirely different dimensions.
The Dummy Variable
One of the more nuanced aspects of this challenge is the introduction of a dummy calculation, often something such as "Dummy".
At first, it can feel unnecessary. The dashboard appears to work without it, so it is not immediately obvious why it is needed. But as interactions are layered in, inconsistencies can begin to appear. Highlight actions may not behave as expected, or marks may respond differently across sheets.
The dummy calculation acts as a stabilising mechanism. It provides Tableau with a consistent structure across all views, ensuring that interactions behave reliably even when the underlying dimensions are changing dynamically.
Use Case:
What makes this challenge particularly valuable is how closely it reflects real-world requirements. It is common for stakeholders to want flexibility without complexity. They want to explore different perspectives, but they do not want to navigate between multiple dashboards.
Dynamic dimension colouring offers a clean solution to that problem. Instead of duplicating work, a single dashboard can adapt to different analytical needs. It becomes easier to maintain, easier to use, and ultimately more effective.
Final Thoughts:
The individual components are not complex, but the way they come together requires some planning. It is less about building individual charts and more about designing how those charts interact.
Structure is key here. It becomes less about getting individual elements to work, and more about ensuring everything operates as part of a system.