From Tableau Tips to Visionary Impact: Celebrating 10 Years with the Flerlage Twins

by Fiona Crocker & Sarah Burnett| Co-Founders, Dub Dub Data

There are people in every professional community who give more than they take. Who show up consistently, share generously, and quietly raise the floor for everyone around them. In the Tableau and data visualization world, Ken and Kevin Flerlage are those people. And after ten years, 451 blog posts, two Tableau Visionary Hall of Fame inductions, and a keynote-stage session at Tableau Conference that packed out 5,000 seats, it feels long overdue to say it plainly: thank you.

This is not just a celebration of two people. It is a celebration of what happens when expertise meets generosity - and what the entire data community gains when practitioners decide to teach in public.

Ken and Kevin Flerlage have frequently blogged about Tableau for over a decade, producing content that people actually use. Their blogs about Tableau on flerlagetwins.com, their Tableau Public vizzes (Ken / Kevin), and their Tableau training resources have become a Tableau lifeline for many analysts. The posts are comprised of tips that solve common problems, not just clever tricks.

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From One Blog Post To A Library That Built Careers

It started, as so many great things do, quietly. A single blog post in 2015 asking a simple but important question: are we obsessing too much over tools and not enough over the questions we are trying to answer? That post, titled The Question is the Question, was written at a time when the data world was drowning in big data hype - Hadoop, NoSQL, buzzword after buzzword. The argument was straightforward and correct: none of the technology matters if you do not know what you are trying to find out.

A decade later, that same principle applies to the AI conversation now consuming every data conference and LinkedIn feed. The tools have changed. The lesson has not.

What grew from that first post is genuinely remarkable. Over 451 blog posts spanning Tableau techniques, dashboard design, data visualization best practices, and everything in between. Resources so widely used they have become embedded in how the Tableau community works. The Beyond Show Me series. The Tableau Chart Catalog with over a hundred chart types. The DataFam Colors post. The transparent color hex code trick that has saved more dashboards than anyone can count. If you have worked in Tableau for more than five minutes, you have almost certainly used something the Flerlage Twins built or taught. Here's a great compilation of their tips! 

The Gift Of Making Hard Things Simple

What separates good Tableau practitioners from great ones is often not raw technical skill - it is the ability to understand when something is too complex for the room and translate it without losing the point. Ken and Kevin have spent ten years doing exactly that, and it is harder than it looks.

Take trigonometry. If you have ever used sine and cosine calculations to build custom curved charts or circular layouts in Tableau, there is a reasonable chance you learned how from the Beyond Show Me series. The challenge with that kind of content is not writing it - it is making it feel approachable to someone who has not thought about trigonometry since high school and is not sure why they would need it now.

The answer Ken and Kevin always came back to was: show people what is possible first, then explain how to get there. Make the goal so compelling that the complexity becomes worth working through. That is a teaching philosophy, and it works.

It also reflects something important about how they built their blog. The most popular posts - the LOD calculations guide, the if statements tutorial, the DataFam Colors resource - are not the flashiest. They are the ones that solve problems almost every Tableau user faces at some point. There is a lesson in that for anyone creating content or building dashboards for a broad audience: the things that help the most people are usually the things that meet people where they actually are, not where you wish they were.

Tableau Design Is A Learnable Skill, And They Proved It

One of the most persistent myths in data visualization is that good design requires innate talent. That either you have an eye for it or you do not. Ken and Kevin have spent a decade quietly dismantling that idea, both through their own example and through the way they talk about others in the community.

They point to practitioners who started with text-heavy, border-heavy, cluttered dashboards and developed into some of the most visually sophisticated data designers working today. The transformation did not happen because talent suddenly arrived. It happened because those practitioners studied what great work looked like, borrowed techniques deliberately, practiced consistently, and got feedback from a community willing to give it.

Ken and Kevin did the same thing. They drew Transformers as kids. They were good at math and art and spent years in technical roles that used the math but not the art. Tableau became the place where both halves finally had a home. That backstory matters because it is not exceptional - it is deeply relatable. A lot of data professionals are sitting on creative instincts they have never had a professional reason to develop. The Flerlage Twins are proof that those instincts are worth pursuing.

The practical advice that comes out of their journey is worth taking seriously. Study work you admire and reverse-engineer it. Look beyond the Tableau community for design inspiration. Use Pinterest, look at editorial design, look at how information designers outside of business intelligence present complex data. Borrow deliberately and credit generously. Design skills compound over time, but only if you practice them on purpose.

What The Datafam Really Means

Kevin describes discovering the Tableau community as one of the defining moments of his journey - not the software, but the people around it. Being two months into learning Tableau and being able to send a message to one of the most respected practitioners in the world and get a thoughtful response back. That kind of generosity is not accidental. It is cultural. And cultures are built by the people who show up and model the behavior they want to see.

The Flerlage Twins have modeled that behavior for ten years. Answering forum questions. Sharing templates freely. Building resources that took real time and effort and putting them into the world with no paywall. Writing about their mistakes as openly as their successes. Crediting the people who inspired them in almost every post they write.

In an era where expertise is increasingly hoarded, monetized, and drip-fed behind subscription tiers, that kind of open generosity is both rare and genuinely valuable. It raises the skill level of everyone who encounters it. It makes the community better. And it creates a culture where newer practitioners feel like they belong and like their questions are worth asking.

The AI Question And Why The Fundamentals Still Win

Ken and Kevin are careful about AI, and that carefulness is instructive. They are not dismissive of it - they use it daily and acknowledge it has changed how they and their clients work. But they are skeptical of the hype cycle in the same way Ken was skeptical of the big data hype cycle a decade ago.

The argument is consistent across both moments: technology does not replace the need to ask good questions and have good quality data. AI built on top of poor data governance and unclear business questions will produce confident-sounding bad answers. That is not a new problem dressed up in new technology. It is the same old problem with better marketing.

For Tableau practitioners and data professionals more broadly, this is a grounding reminder. The fundamentals that make a great dashboard - a clear question, clean data, a design that serves the audience rather than the creator - are the same fundamentals that make AI-assisted analysis useful rather than dangerous. Chasing the new tool before you have mastered the underlying discipline has never been the right move. Ken said it in 2015. It is still true.

Teaching At Scale: What 451 Blog Posts Actually Teaches Us

Building a content archive of 451 posts over ten years is an act of extraordinary consistency. There was no viral moment that made it happen. There was no single breakthrough post that changed everything. There was just showing up, writing about what was useful, and trusting that the compounding effect of consistent generosity would eventually build something significant.

That is exactly what happened. And the way Ken and Kevin talk about deciding what to write is worth understanding. Almost everything in the recent archive comes directly from client work - real problems that real organizations faced, solved, and that became useful enough to share. The best teaching material is almost always lived experience translated into something others can use. Not theory. Not hypotheticals. Actual solutions to actual problems.

For data professionals thinking about building their own presence - whether through writing, presenting, or contributing to community forums - this is the model. You do not need to have invented something new. You need to have solved something real and be willing to explain how.

A Decade Well Spent

At Tableau Conference 2025, Ken and Kevin presented on the keynote stage to an audience of around 5,000 people. They did exactly what they would have done in a room of 100 - the same warmth, the same humor, the same genuine delight in showing people cool things you can do with data. The size of the room had changed. They had not.

That is the real measure of ten years well spent. Not the Hall of Fame inductions, impressive as those are. Not the blog traffic or the Tableau Public favorites or the conference session invitations. It is the fact that success did not change what they are fundamentally about - which is taking complicated things, making them accessible, and giving the result away freely so someone else's work can be better.

The Tableau community is better because Ken and Kevin Flerlage decided to share what they knew. Every practitioner who has used a Sankey template, referenced a chart catalog, decoded an LOD calculation, or simply felt less alone in a complex technical problem has benefited from that decision.

So from everyone who has ever learned something from the Flerlage Twins blog - thank you Ken & Kevin - your support for our community is tremendous. Here's to the next ten years!! 

Want to Learn More?

If this story resonates, it’s usually because you’re thinking about how to build stronger data capability in your own organisation. Dub Dub Data works with leaders and teams to turn analytics, Tableau, and data visualisation into something people actually use. From strategy and enablement through to hands-on delivery, we help organisations do cool stuff with data that lasts. If you want to explore how we could work together, book a consultation and let’s talk about what’s possible.

unDUBBED Podcast - D32 The Flerlage Twins on 10 Years, 451 Blog Posts & Why They're Not Stopping

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🎙️ Unscripted. Uncensored. Undeniably data.

Summary

In this episode of unDUBBED, hosts Fiona and Sarah celebrate a decade of contributions from the Flerlage Twins to the Tableau community. They discuss the evolution of data storytelling, the importance of community support, and the intersection of design and analytics. The conversation also touches on the impact of AI on data practices, insights on teaching at scale, and memorable blog posts that have shaped their journey. The Flerlage Twins share their favorite memories and milestones, reflecting on their growth and the influence of their work in the data visualization space.

Takeaways

The Flerlage Twins have been influential in the Tableau community for a decade.

Community support is vital in the data visualisation field.

• Design and analytics can coexist beautifully in data storytelling.
• AI is a powerful tool, but quality data remains essential.
• Teaching complex topics in a digestible way is a key strength of the Flerlage Twins.
• The Flerlage Twins' blog has over 451 posts, showcasing their expertise.
• Memorable moments in their career include awards and presentations at Tableau Conference.
• The importance of collaboration and learning from others in the community.
• Their journey reflects the evolution of data practices over the years.
• The Flerlage Twins emphasize the blend of creativity and technical skills in data visualisation.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to unDUBBED and the Flerlage Twins

02:51 Celebrating a Decade of Data Storytelling

04:10 The Journey of the Flerlage Twins

08:31 The Impact of Community and Support

10:53 The Art and Math of Data Visualization

16:38 Reflections on AI and the Future of Data

19:35 The Importance of Data Quality in AI

20:15 Concerns About Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

21:26 AI's Impact on Work and Productivity

23:13 The Role of Human Input in AI

25:33 Ethics and Dangers of AI

25:42 Teaching at Scale: Learning Styles and Content Creation

38:16 Popular Tableau Techniques and Their Impact

40:06 Technical Glitches and Solutions

40:08 Top Blog Posts and Their Impact

42:21 Memorable Blog Posts and Their Significance

45:11 Favorite Memories and Milestones

50:03 Reflections on Career Decisions and Growth

Links

The Flerlage Twins: https://www.flerlagetwins.com/

Ken on Tableau Public: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ken.flerlage

Kevin on Tableau Public: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/kevin.flerlage

Ken on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethflerlage/

Kevin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-flerlage-20106a8/

Moxy Analytics: https://www.moxyanalytics.com/the-flerlage-twins

Top Blog Posts Mentioned:

"Datafam Colors" (#1 most popular): https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2021/06/datafam-colors-color-palette.html

"Transparent Color Hex Code" (#2 most popular): https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2019/04/introducing-transparent-color-hex-code.html

"20 Uses for Tableau Level of Detail Calculations" (#3 most popular): https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2018/01/lod-calculations.html

"Beyond Show Me Part 1: It's All About the X & Y": https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2017/11/beyond-show-me-part-1-its-all-about-x-y_46.html

"Beyond Show Me Part 2: Trigonometry": https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2017/11/beyond-me-part-2-trigonometry_1.html

"No Polygons" technique (Kevin's early post): https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2019/01/no-polygons.html

"Tableau Chart Catalog": https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/kevin.flerlage/viz/TableauChartCatalog/TableauChartCatalog

Sankey Templates: https://www.flerlagetwins.com/2021/07/sankey-template.html

Keywords

Flerlage Twins, Tableau, data visualization, community, AI, teaching, analytics, design, blog, podcast