High volumes of data and a failure to ask the right questions can erode user trust in data analytics and fail decision-makers who are looking for actionable insights out of their data visualisations.
This is according to Mico Yuk, founder of US-based BI Brainz and an international keynote speaker set to participate in the upcoming ITWeb BI Summit in Johannesburg.
Yuk, founder of the BI Dashboard Formula (BIDF) methodology and BI Data Storytelling Mastery Framework, has trained thousands of people across 20+ countries on how to strategically use the power of data storytelling and data visualisation to accelerate the decision-making process.
With data being a top priority for organisations around the world, too many are still finding it difficult to effectively harness their data to make actionable business decisions. Yuk says that in BI, the focus is often on trends, which gives users little more than hindsight.
“It’s keeping the users looking in the rearview mirror,” she says. “Data analysts and practitioners need to ask users the right questions, to truly understand the user’s requirements and focus on the whole story, the goal, KPIs, trends, and finally the actions. Without this, most data visualisations are useless and become single hits.”
“Often users think the more information they give the business, the more informed the business is to make a decision. But too much data can lead to data overload, and analysis paralysis. Many BI and analytics teams succumb to a user’s request, by adding everything into a single report. It quickly becomes cumbersome, hard to navigate and takes too long to find the needed insights or actions to make quick decisions. We call those kinds of reports the incredible hulks.”
This can erode user trust in the technology and the analytics team, and send users looking for someone else to help them, she says.
Getting actionable insights out of data demands a solid approach and framework, which includes an understanding of what questions to ask, and – importantly – harnessing the power of data storytelling to communicate the data to users, Yuk says.
Humans are wired visually, she notes, therefore data visualisation is key to understanding data. But data visualisation encompasses a great deal more than charts, she adds.
To secure good user adoption and support decision-making, goals and KPIs must be clearly defined and a clear and compelling data story must be created. That is why she recommends always starting with storyboarding.
Mico Yuk will be a keynote speaker and will deliver a hands-on workshop at the ITWeb BI Summit, to be staged at the Sandton Convention Centre from 3-5 March.
Her keynote ‘The power of data storytelling – how to influence actions and accelerate decision-making’ will give a high-level overview of proven methods and frameworks to more effectively gather, present and utilise data for decision-making.
Yuk’s hands-on half-day workshop ‘Learning the art and science of creating actionable data stories’ will teach participants how to take any goal, KPI or metric and transform it into a compelling visual data story.
This workshop has been designed to deliver tools and techniques participants will be able to implement in their organisations to get an immediate boost in user engagement and buy-in.
For more information about this event, or to reserve your seat, go to https://v2.itweb.co.za/event/itweb/business-intelligence-summit-2020/
