Every year, the sheer amount of data being created grows exponentially. Businesses realise that the ability to get insights from this data can be an enormous competitive advantage, but the data on it's own is no use, to benefit the business, it must be collected, organised, interpreted and analysed if it to offer any significant insights and value.
This is where data visualisation comes in, helping organisations to glean the benefits of data, and use it to uncover new business opportunities. "Data visualisation is a method of converting raw information and data, usually quantitative values but it can be anything, into a visual representation that lets the viewer understand the underlying data better," says Jeff Fletcher, engineer and developer at Limn.
"Whether to show a summary of the data or a comparison between data sets, data visualisation presents the data in a way that it cannot be easily interpreted in its raw format," he explains.
Fletcher will be presenting on 'the basics of good data visualisation' at the ITWeb Business Intelligence Summit 2017 on 14 and 15 March at The Forum in Bryanston.
According to Fletcher, good data visualisation presents the information required in the best way possible for the viewer to understand. "Its primary purpose is to convey information and if this fails, then all the aesthetic and design elements are a waste. The data visualisation must carry the intended message as simply as possible, in a way that is best suited for the intended audience. Good data visualisation focuses primarily on the message that is being conveyed first, and then on aesthetic and design."
Speaking of how data visualisation can benefit an organisation, he says successful businesses rely heavily on clear internal communication, and in the new data-driven world, clearly communicating the data, and results of data analysis, are key success factors. "If viewers of your presentation are interpreting the same data differently or incorrectly, they may end making the wrong decision, which could adversely affect a business. Being clear and following good data visualisation guidelines can help prevent this."
Delegates attending Fletcher's talk can expect to learn why they should take the time to work on their data visualisation, as well as get the basics of what is 'good' data virtualisation, versus what is 'bad' data virtualisation. In addition, they will be shown examples of how good data visualisation helps to tell the story of insights better.
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