Data visualization basically refers to the graphical representation of data and information by using visual elements such as graphs, maps and charts. Data visualization allows people to see and understand trends as well as patterns in data. Data visualization tools and techniques are becoming essential in the world of big data as people try to analyze huge amounts of data and information in order to make informed data-driven decisions.
Advantages of Good Data Visualization:
Data visualization can be compared to visual art where the human eyes can quickly identify a square from a circle or red from blue. Data visualization allows us to focus on the message by grabbing our interest thus enabling us to make sense of the message. By seeing something like a chart, we are able to internalize it quickly. Imagine staring at a massive spreadsheet of data but you cannot be able to make sense of it or even see a trend. This is where data visualization comes in to help us visualize and make sense of huge amounts of data generated on a daily basis.
Data visualization tells a story by curating data and information into a form that is easy to understand. This involves highlighting the outliers and trends or simply removing the noise from data allowing us to see the most useful information. However, the process of data visualization is not as easy as it sounds as it involves a delicate balancing act between function and form thus even a plain graph may be hard to comprehend. This means that the data as well as the visuals must work together in order to combine great storytelling with great analysis.
There is no professional industry that does not make use of data hence data visualization is critical in a wide range of fields that include finance, marketing, government, sports, education, service industries and so on. The ability to convey data or information visually either in form of a slide deck or dashboard means that you will be in a better position to leverage that information.
Data Visualization Tools & Techniques:
There are several tools and techniques that can be used to convey data in an interesting and effective way. Some of the most common data visualization methods include graphs, charts, tables, info-graphics, maps and dashboards. There are also free and paid data visualization tools available hence you can choose the one which meets your needs. Some data visualization tools and software include:
- Zoho reports (Free)
- VIDI (Free)
- Clik Sense Desktop (Free)
- Microsoft BI platform (Free)
- Google Fusion Tables (Free)
- Tableau (Paid)
- Microsoft Excel (Paid)
- Microsoft PowerPoint (Paid)
- Fusion Charts (Paid)
- Data Wrapper (Paid)
All above tools are handy in one or many ways but we found Microsoft BI as a good tool among the Free ones. Other the other hand Tableau is an amazing tool for data visualization among the paid tools. You can find more detailed tableau training courses here.
Data visualization enables you to maximize the potential of your data analysis and also helps you create better business reports. Learning how to use modern data visualization tools and techniques enhances the quality of your presentations. Through data visualization, business owners are able to understand their data thus they spend less time solving a query or making a report. Even the most complex data will look easy when it gets converted into an easy format through the process of visualization.