# Clip Replay: My concerns about Tableau Pulse - 2023 in Review

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2024-01-03
- **Format:** Video · 12 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Tool strategy, Industry trends
- **Tools:** Tableau (data modelling, prep, pulse, relationships)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/clip-replay-my-concerns-about-tableau-pulse---2023-in-review
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PxWyRcRKn4

This is a clip from my 2023 in review where I share my concerns about Tableau Pulse. I explain why I think Tableau has drifted from its core innovation, praise Tableau Prep, and argue that Pulse will only succeed if the tools for building data sources are brought up to standard.

## Key takeaways

- Tableau Pulse entered beta in 2023, but access was tightly controlled and difficult to obtain even for community members.
- I argue Tableau's core innovation was helping people work through their data interactively, not the platform itself, and that recent focus has drifted from that.
- Pulse depends on high-quality data sources, yet the tools to build them (published data sources, Prep) aren't yet at the same standard.
- Tableau Prep is the feature that pleased me most in 2023 because it steadily works through the community's real pain points.
- To diagnose a feature's weaknesses, search the Tableau ideas page, filter to open ideas and sort by popularity to see what users still want.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Pulse beta access frustrations
- 2:17 Tableau's core innovation concern
- 5:54 Praise for Tableau Prep
- 8:10 Problems with published data sources
- 10:40 Pulse needs good data source tooling

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/clip-replay-my-concerns-about-tableau-pulse---2023-in-review

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena