How does data visualisation make data analysis easier?
What is data visualisation / dataviz?
Data visualisation is the visual representation of data. Often referred to as "dataviz", this practice involves questioning the meaning of the data, in order to translate it into a readable form.
This practice is all the more important when there is a lot of information, as is the case with Big Data!
Different ways of representing data, particularly Big Data
How do you represent a dataset? What formal expression is most appropriate: a histogram, a scatter plot, a graph? There is a vast range of possibilities open to you.
When it comes to spreadsheets, diagrams and graphs alone, there are plenty to choose from:
- curves ;
- areas ;
- surfaces ;
- radar (looks like a spider's web) ;
- bubbles ;
- rings ;
- or in sectors (also known as pie charts).
Data design: giving meaning above all
Shape is not an accessory here. It should be a direct translation of your analysis. It is by asking yourself the question of meaning that you will find the right form, the one that will make your data crystal clear.
Data visualization consists of matching form to content: this is known as data design.
How can data visualization help your business?
The power of the visual
Whether you're presenting an idea, arguing a point, detailing a line of reasoning or convincing someone, we all know how important visuals are - "a picture is worth a thousand words".
The same goes for your figures. Presented in raw format, they are difficult to decipher. But if they're presented visually, in an innovative way, they deliver a more immediate message.
A cross-functional tool
Data visualization is useful for every department in your company, whether it's tracking stocks, assessing the state of your finances, evaluating the development curve or gauging the progress of a project.
Each division has its own KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and having a visual representation of them helps you to analyse them.
In-house or specialised dashboards?
Using a tool like Excel, you can build your own dashboards. However, although certain templates exist, everything has to be set up manually.
The ability to transform your data into a visual representation is a feature offered by many publishers in a variety of fields.
Genius Project, for example, offers dashboards tailored to project management.
Publishers such as Eurelian Technologies focus their solutions more specifically on e-marketing management.
In addition, for everything to do with sales performance management, dashboards such as those from Vizzboard are perfectly suited.
- Genius Project: project management, progress cursor, task allocation, interdependency chart with staggered deadlines.
- Eurelian Technologies: e-marketing, data and impact analysis, ROI (Return On Investment), scope of actions deployed, results in terms of acquisition.
- Vizzboard: sales management, analysis of sales performance, sales developed versus objectives, geographical coverage, pipeline.
How can you deploy datavisualisation in your business?
Open source data visualisation software
There are also open source software solutions. Their advantage is that they offer a wide range of customisation options.
Depending on your business and the KPIs that are important to you, you can configure all the analysis tables without any restrictions.
However, this functional advantage is reserved for the initiated. It requires both time and expert profiles.
SaaS solutions
For the less experienced, specialised solutions in SaaS (Software as a Service) mode are more advisable.
These turnkey solutions offer you a control kit that is both easy to use and sophisticated in terms of analysis.
All you have to do is install the solution, it connects to your data, and the dashboards populate spontaneously, giving you a visual analytical vision.
Big Data for Business Intelligence: Qlik and Microsoft Bi
Depending on your analysis needs and the tools you use in your business, it's worth opting for one solution or the other:
- Microsoft BI, for example, is perfectly suited to companies that use this operating system for their entire IT infrastructure.
- Alternatives such as Qlikview may be of interest, or Bime analytics if your data sets are similar to Big Data.
Datavisualisation is a key feature for analysing your data more effectively. It's a way of presenting the essential information in a clear and relevant way.
A tool that includes dashboards with this functionality saves you time and makes it easier to manage the various departments in your company.
Article translated from French