Program Overview
Gain foundational data skills applicable to any industry. Collect and analyze data, model business scenarios, and communicate your findings with SQL, Excel, and Tableau.
In Udacity’s Business Analytics Nanodegree program, students will master data fundamentals applicable to any industry and learn to make data-driven decisions. From collecting and analyzing data to modeling business scenarios, students will learn Excel, SQL, and Tableau, utilizing data visualization skills to communicate findings.
Estimated Time:
- 3 months at 10hrs/week
Skill Level:
- Beginner
Program Prerequisites:
- No experience required
Skill Summary:
- Introduction to Data:
- Basic spreadsheet use
- Business KPIs
- Basic descriptive statistics
- Spreadsheet functions
- Quantitative data visualization
- Forecast modeling in spreadsheets
- Data visualization in spreadsheets
- Professional presentations
- Finance metrics
- Marketing metrics
- Data validation in spreadsheets
- Pivot tables
- Categorical data visualization
- Inferential statistics
- Chart types
- Sales metrics
- Growth metrics
- Using SQL for Data Analysis:
- SQL aggregations
- SQL joins
- SQL queries
- SQL subqueries
- SQL window functions
- Data Visualization in Tableau:
- Tableau interactive dashboards
- Tableau calculated fields
- Tableau map-based visualizations
- Data visualization design
- Tableau storypoint
- Tableau data pane
- Tableau field organization and customization
- Chart selection
- Data storytelling
- Tableau interactive dashboards
- Tableau visualizations
Courses In This Program:
- Welcome to the Nanodegree Program (Duration: 1 week): In the lessons leading to the first project, learners will get to know their instructors and learn how data is being applied in many industries. They’ll also learn about course structure, navigation, learning resources, deadlines, projects, and everything that will help them succeed in this course. They will then get to work on their first project, where they will draw insights from interactive dashboards. A large part of working with data is being able to interpret data visualizations and explain insights to others. This project will build a learner’s intuition on working with data dashboards, while also showing them the types of beautiful visualizations they will be able to produce by the end of this program!
- Lessons: 4
- (Project) Interpret a Data Visualization: In this project, learners will explore an interactive data dashboard to uncover insights. They’ll write a short report explaining each insight, and how they found the information to reach their conclusion from the dashboard.
- Introduction to Data (Duration: 3 weeks): Learn the basic concepts of data analysis and descriptive statistics. Learn how to manipulate, analyze, and visualize data in Excel and Google Sheets. Learn about business metrics across a wide range of business areas (marketing, sales, growth, and finance). Finally, learn about forecasting sales and financial metrics.
- Lessons: 8
- (Project) Analyze NYSE Data: In this project, learners will use a data set containing financial performance data from companies listed in NYSE S&P to create an income statement and forecast financial metrics.
- Using SQL for Data Analysis (Duration: 3 weeks): SQL is one of the most versatile tools available when it comes to extracting insights from stored data. Learn how to execute core SQL commands to define, select, manipulate, control access, aggregate, and join data and data tables. Understand when and how to use subqueries, several window functions, and partitions to complete complex tasks. Clean data, optimize SQL queries, and write select advanced JOINs to enhance analysis performance. Explain which cases you would want to use particular SQL commands and apply the results from queries to address business problems.
- Lessons: 4
- (Project) Query a Digital Music Store Database: In this project, learners will query a digital music store database which holds information regarding the store’s media, employees, and customers. Learners will use the database to help the store gain an understanding of the types of music that are purchased, where customers live, and how the company might optimize their business practices.
- Data Visualization in Tableau (Duration: 1 week): Learn how to select the most appropriate data visualization for an analysis. Learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of a data visualization and build interactive and engaging Tableau dashboards.
- Lessons: 4
- (Project) Build Data Dashboards: In this project, learners will build interactive dashboards with Tableau and use them to discover and communicate insights from data. They’ll use a dataset of flight delays in the US to visualize the quality of airlines and airports, find the best times to fly, and more.
- Congratulations and Next Steps (Duration: 15 minutes): Congratulations on completing the BAND Nanodegree!
- Lessons: 1
- Career Services (Duration: 2 days): These Career Services will ensure you make meaningful connections with industry professionals to accelerate your career growth – whether looking for a job or opportunities to collaborate with your peers. Unlike your Nanodegree projects, you do not need to meet specifications on these Services to progress in your program. Submit these Career Services once, and get honest, personalized feedback and next steps from Udacity Career Coaches!
- Lessons: 3
- (Project) Improve Your LinkedIn Profile: In this project, learners will improve their LinkedIn profiles to ensure that they attract relevant leads that will grow their professional networks and help them find their next job.
- (Project) Resume Review: In this project, learners will improve their resumes by getting personalized feedback on how they communicate their qualifications for a job.
Instructors:
- Josh Bernhard, Staff Data Scientist
Josh has been sharing his passion for data for over a decade. He’s used data science for work ranging from cancer research to process automation. He recently has found a passion for solving data science problems within marketplace companies. - Derek Steer, CEO at Mode
Derek is the CEO of Mode Analytics. He developed an analytical foundation at Facebook and Yammer and is passionate about sharing it with future analysts. He authored SQL School and is a mentor at Insight Data Science. - Mat Leonard, Content Developer
Mat is a former physicist, research neuroscientist, and data scientist. He did his PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley. - Dana Sheahan, Content Developer
Dana is an electrical engineer with a Masters in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. Her work experience includes software development for embedded systems in the Automotive Group at Motorola, where she was awarded a patent for an onboard operating system. - Sam Nelson, Product Lead
Sam is the Product Lead for Udacity’s Data Analyst, Business Analyst, and Data Foundations programs. He’s worked as an analytics consultant on projects in several industries, and is passionate about helping others improve their data skills.
