Philip Schajer: When it comes to data visualisation the point is to try and show the obvious from non-obvious data sources.
You will have thousands of data points coming in from different directions and you don’t want to present these to the human eye as just a series of numbers so this is where data visualisation can be effective.
It can take hugely complex, quantitative data and break it down into manageable bites whilst also creating effective correlations between many different kinds of data.
For instance, if you were looking at a particular trend in one sphere, you would be able to see what it might mean in another sphere and how they correlate together.
"It can take hugely complex, quantitative data and
break it down into manageable bites."
Also, you can be rigorous in defining what is correlation and what is causation and how meaningful two data points are i.e. has one led to the other or is there a particular theme in each of them.
There is a temptation with data visualisation to come to the conclusion that two lines that are pointing in the same direction means you have a trend but you have to be rigorous as to what things actually mean.
It is about bringing the obvious out of what is not obvious and using data analytics and data visualisation to really identify trends.
Philip: You can look at thousands of data points but if you have a pretty graph in front of you and your data is represented in this way, it allows you to understand what is going on much more quickly.
This means quicker decision making. Equally, communication is much easier if you are looking at infographics, maps and graphs rather than just looking at numbers.
"Data visualisation allows you to interact with data
in a way that numbers don’t."
And when you have things mapped out as lines or bars on a graph you can start to see trends. But it is about understanding what these lines actually mean and not just assuming that it gives you those connections.
Data visualisation also allows you to interact with data in a way that numbers don’t, particularly if you want to look at different time, data ranges or other points of analysis which can be done quicker in a visualised environment.
Philip: Exactly and effective data visualisation is clear and well communicated. If you can communicate your message in a visual manner, then it will be much more effective.
