---
schema_version: "1"
id: 11af3bfef62febada67a9683ced94f33d0b6987a86a8d14bdda0680b959aff1d
title: Build Data Views from Scratch
collection: tableau
version: next
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/tableau/next/en-us/public/desktop/building_overview.md
canonical_url: https://help.tableau.com/v0.0/public/desktop/en-us/building_overview.htm
source_site: help.tableau.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 7d61b068a54e610eb21179f7ae4a8499cd75db167487b1e449af564b82ae7b68
description: Solves how to build custom data visualizations and charts from scratch by dragging data fields into Tableau views.
---
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# Build Data Views from Scratch

This section describes the various features at your disposal and tasks related to building visualizations in Tableau.

Every view that you build in Tableau should start with a question. What do you want to know? Every time you drag a field into the view or onto a shelf, you are asking a question about the data. The question will vary depending on where you drag various fields, the types of fields, and the order in which you drag fields into the view.

For every question you ask about your data, the marks in your viz update to represent the answer visually—with shapes, text, size, color, headers, axes, hierarchies, or table structures.

For information on building and viewing visualizations on the web, see [Use Tableau on the Web](https://help.tableau.com/v0.0/public/desktop/en-us/web_author_home.htm).

Looking for a data set to work with? Download one from the [Tableau Public sample data page](https://public.tableau.com/app/learn/sample-data), or check out our tips to [find good data sets](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/find_good_datasets.htm).

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