Product Manager, Maps at Tableau
By: Joe Gomez
Locate | Pier 27, San Francisco, CA | May 30–31, 2018
Visualizing big data is a key theme of Locate, our two-day user conference May 30–31. We’ll explore how companies are collecting, processing, and mapping location data at a massive scale, in real time. And we’ll hear from leaders in the space like Kent Marten, Product Manager for Maps and Spatial Analysis at Tableau.
Spatial data is no longer a special case, only understood by experts with special tools. Every dataset contains information about “where”, and today everyone sees the value of deeply understanding the location-driven context and results of their analysis. -Kent Marten
Kent has worked on mapping software for the last 12 years, and he’s confident the next few years are going to be the most exciting. Reserve a spot at Locate to see him speak.
In the meantime, here’s the latest from Kent about maps and big data:
As data viz tools improve, what are the challenges ahead?
I don’t think the major challenges have changed much from the human perspective. Simply put, people need to understand their data. It’s one thing to draw it, another to make it interactive, but to arrive at an answer and be curious enough to ask another question is the challenge. Millions of points on a map are rarely insightful as-is; the challenge is to allow for data to be aggregated to the level of detail that aligns with the question being asked. For example, millions of static points are interpreted a lot differently than millions of moving points. The challenge is to present data in a form that accelerates a person’s ability to make sense of it.
What are some of the exciting things Tableau is doing with maps and location that you can share?
We’re bringing advanced spatial capabilities into the product this year. Tableau now supports native spatial data directly from SQL Server, furthering our support for spatial data sources. We’re also adding a new join type called “Spatial Join”. This will match records from spatial tables based on their shared location. We’re releasing a Heatmap capability that will work on both maps and non-maps, and it will make working with dense data much easier. There are more features coming and lots of news to share, but for all the details, you’ll have to find me at Locate.
What are you personally most excited about exploring at Locate?
I love the themes of the conference — from Big Data to Living Maps — it’s really an exciting time. The thing I’m most excited about is the chance to meet people in the mapping community. I’m excited to talk about the problems they’re trying to solve and to start thinking of creative solutions.
We’ll be announcing more speakers, demos, and code labs at Locate in the weeks to come. Register for early bird tickets now to save your spot.
Speaking @ Locate: Kent Marten was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.