Should I use the formula tool? Or was it the multi-row formula? No wait, what about the Multi-Field formula tool? It might be confusing at first when being introduced to dozens of tools and trying to ascertain the right tool to use for the problem at hand. Even if you have a certain solution, often there may be quicker ways to get to the same output.
This is where the weekly challenges come in play.
A challenge is posted every week in the Alteryx Community of varying difficulty (beginner/intermediate/advanced) which allows you the opportunity to test your wits and compare your solutions to some of the best users on Alteryx. Did it with 5 tools? It’s a safe bet to say that someone else was able to do it in 4. The challenges come in several different categories such as:
- Data preparation
- Data parsing
- Data analysis
- Data cleansing
- Spatial
- Macros
- Apps
- Predictive
Pick the categories that you want to improve on and I can guarantee you will learn something new that you didn’t know before.
How has it helped me?
I spent the weekend working on the beginner challenges and was able to knock off 9 of them. It was great to test my skills and have the opportunity to use everything I had learnt thus far from 4 days of learning Alteryx. Prior to the challenges, I had a somewhat loose understanding of the tools learnt but was slightly uncertain of what each tool did and when/why to use them. After doing the challenges over the weekend, I have a much greater grasp of the tools and more confident with using them. It was also useful to see other solutions to see quicker methods and I even learnt some that I had never used yet e.g. the Tiles and Find Replace tool.
However, not all the beginner challenges are a walk in the park. There were a few that I could not complete with my current skill-set. I am looking forward to going back to them in a few weeks when I have learnt more.
My goal?
Completing 50 by the end of our 4-month training. Will that happen? Hopefully. I plan on completing at least one a day. As my skills become better, they should be easier to complete and take up less time of my day.
So, whether you’re still trying to get an understanding of the basic tools in Alteryx or trying to learn new ways to tackle problems – you can’t go wrong with the weekly challenges.
