Information visualisation - tricks and traps

Data visualisation is most commonly output in the form of dashboards comprising of charts, graphs, maps or gauges. Used for reports and presentations or as a `live` summary of key performance indicators, the aim is fast, easy comprehension of complex data. Common errors can skew data, however, obscuring valuable insights.

Gary Cook, Director at Leaderboard, a developer of visual intelligence solutions, explains: "More and more business tools are being developed to enable the business user to view their existing information in new ways but if intelligence is not applied to the design of the visual, there is little value to it. Visuals assist in learning, thinking and comprehension. Understanding how visuals aid or support these mental processes puts a new dimension on design."

To date, business data visualisation has been confined to painfully created pie charts and graphs inserted in PowerPoint presentations. Specially developed reports give static executive views with little functionality for drill-down or discovery, and visualisation contained in enterprise-size BI solutions are limited to approved data sets. Greater flexibility is required and is now - to the delight of Excel-ists - available in the form of low-cost, highly functional and customisable data visualisation applications that can extract data in different formats from numerous sources and don`t necessarily require enterprise roll-out - although are often used as part of an enterprise solution.

"But all that functionality is useless if the designer is not aware of viewer priorities or how to accurately plot and expose information in a visually `impacting` way," says Cook. "The primary objective of information visualisation in any presentation is to highlight core metrics or problem areas without management having to dig to find the problems. The information a CEO, CFO and operations director need differs, however. Making use of existing templates or formulae relevant to these different areas of expertise will assist as these role players are already familiar with these forms of presentation. An overview of existing business conditions is, however, essential to contextualise information in a given time period or within a strategic priority or performance matrix."

He notes that dull, lifeless visual presentation of existing facts can be considerably enlivened by the addition of a few simple considerations.

"Designers of visuals should take the following into consideration:

a. Performance colours can be simplified to red, green, amber (know when to use and when not to)
b. Showing new insights into data (not just showing table of information)
c. Adding relevant pictures, maps to enhance understanding of information
d. When not to use a pie chart (more than say 10 items).

"Visual intelligence adoption is usually from the top down," he advises. "Visual presentations should thus be linked to strategy and include blue sky and external information sources relevant to the business, such as oil price, dollar/rand exchange rates and/or political climate indicators."

There are a number of ways in which a boring set of data can be turned into a stimulating presentation. He offers an example recently designed for a corporate client. "Take Debtors Days, for instance," says Cook. "A target for this piece of information - eg, Debtors Days for 2006 target is 33 - is set. Using colour and different chart and gauge types, the visual is instantly transformed into a useful, interactive presentation."

These are his preferred elements:

* Gauge (minimum measure - low is better green on right of gauge)
* Conditional formatted cell in a table - red / yellow / green vs target
* Bar chart of month on month values
* Line chart over a bar of the targets
* Staked bar to show actual and target (red fill on bar if target not met)
* A fill thermometer / progress bar with targets indicated by performance colours

** This dashboard created in 20 minutes using Xcelsius, a point-and-click Windows application that converts data from ordinary Excel spreadsheets, corporate databases and Web services into visually stunning, interactive executive dashboards and scorecards, dynamic charts and graphs, business and investment calculators, pro forma budget models and more. Xcelsius data presentations include interactive what-if capabilities for generating real-time projections and forecasts.