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Data Visualization | Cavi Velasquez | 02/20/2018 01:08AM

The Power of Data Visualization

In our professional activities, often we must transmit or show complex information, either dynamic tables, statistics, indicators, in a simple way, so our audience, colleagues or boss can understand them and, thus, have them pay more attention to the speech than to the graphics, almost unintelligible.


Basic Principles of Data Analysis:

We're going to talk about data visualization. Data analysis is the process through which a set of data is identified, examined and transformed with the aim of drawing conclusions, highlighting information or alerting to situations, to allow for timely decision making.

In this analysis you can find structured or unstructured data:

Structured data: this is data that comes from organized information such as a spreadsheet or excel table.
Unstructured data: here, information is disorganized, making it more difficult to organize algorithmically. Despite being valuable data, it is difficult to analyze.

Even the most sophisticated analysis of data in the world, , does not deal with showing information in a way that can be easily assimilated or understood. For this reason, when you must show very extensive data, the first thing you should do is to gather it, then develop the analysis and present that information in a way that makes sense and is easy to assimilate for your audience or end user.

Data display:

The visualization of data is not a complex fact, it is just a question of converting complex information into simpler one.

In this sense, the visualization of data is just a technique that helps anyone to see and understand its analysis. For example, you can show agraphical representation of data about markets in a meeting with your client, and easily indicate the correlations of one set of data with another, making the client see valuable information that will allow her to adjust her business to the reality that you have shown and so develop business strategies. 

We usually illustrate data with graphics, to communicate information clearly and effectively to our audience. But this is nothing new; visual representations such as charts and graphs have been used for a long time to understand information in a simpler and faster way. For this reason, it is necessary to make special emphasis on visual representations that you use to show a set of data to your audience, since the (good or bad) representation of it can influence the decision making of a corporate manager, business owner, investor or your future client. For example: an adequate representation of data will not only improve the appearance of your presentation, but also help your audience to better understand your message and, therefore, make the decision-making process to be carried out efficiently and effectively, saving time and money.

This is how to see data and analyze it; nowadays, it is a business challenge and being able to show data in a simple way allows you to see and help to see new scenarios for the business.

Data Representation:

Typically, a database could be compressed by different or in different tables, and in the case of a database we will usually find many tables that have some relationship between them (correlation). A table is composed of:


Rows: 

In a row, the information of the data is located and represented horizontally. The information that feeds the table is placed in the rows.



                                                                      Data Base 




Columns:

Within a table, a column is represented vertically. In a table, the column dictates what type of information is stored among all the rows of a table. For example, if we have a database that includes information about your potential client, the first column could be the name of the person or company; the second, industry or area of work; and the third column, the address of the potential client. We often refer to these columns as attributes. This is what we call the architecture of a database. 




Tables vs. Charts

You are probably familiar with the most popular data visualization tools such as tables and charts. Here I show you a simple example. Observe these two diagrams: the one on your left has a simple table and the one on your right has a chart. Both reflect the same information about the performance of the company in the past 4 years.

For the client, which image is easier to understand and to draw conclusions from?


                                                     

                       Simple Table                                                                             Charts 


The chart is more valuable because it summarizes the data in a format so that the audience can understand and draw conclusions.


Why are some charts easier to understand than others? Look when the chart has design problems and what makes it challenging. For example, if a chart has many lines or a lot of color or numbers, this distracts or distorts the most important information.


                            

                                 Source: http://opalskyviewthuduc.info/crescent-city-ca-tide-chart.html 


It is clear that effective visualization of data helps to have a better and clearer perception of the information based on which decisions will be made, processes, people or markets will be evaluated, or it can effectively answer business questions that were not previously seen. For example, if our business is doing badly or very well, we can take action in the future.

So, from now on, pay close attention to the visual detail of your data analysis, since you'll be helping to build a vision and make a business thrive.

Soon I will be offering you more information about the different programs or software that are used to visualize data, as well as how to use PowerPoint for graphic representation to effectively visualize data. Be alert!




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