According to SAS, “Data
visualization is the presentation of data in a pictorial or graphical
format. It enables decision makers to see analytics presented visually, so they
can grasp difficult concepts or identify new patterns.” Broken down, displaying
data visually helps us better understand data and recognize patterns. To put
the need for data visualization into perspective, according to Wired
from the beginning of time to 2003, humans created five billion gigabytes of
data. In 2011, that same amount of data was created every two days. As a
designer, showcasing data will always be important to me. Now that we have this
much data, visualizations need to be beyond well designed. Designs need to show
depth and truly capture the meaning of the data, not just display it in a
visually appealing way. The early 2010’s saw a huge infographic trend. While
infographics are still a popular way to display data, they have gotten smaller
and much more platform oriented. Analytics dashboards give better insights and
overviews to stakeholders in businesses about how their sites, products, and
services are performing, but now with technological advances are becoming even
more user-oriented. Ease of use for analytics platforms has helped streamline
the way companies visualize data as well
Infographics
Infographics are not
a new phenomenon, they have been around since as early as the 1860’s. W.E.B.
Du Bois helped paved the way for the modern day infographic at the 1900 World
Fair through a presentation of 60 infographics developed by himself and his
students. In the early 2010s a new type of infographic was created – a long
form scrolling graphic. In the early 2010s it was nearly impossible to go on a website
without seeing a long, scrolling infographic describing a topic. As time has
progressed infographics are becoming more streamlined. Smaller infographics
focusing on one or two facts are popular for social media mediums.
Dashboards
Dashboards provide an excellent way for stakeholders in a company
to report on and look at high-level analytics on a more regular basis. Dashboards
used to be created using tools like PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel. While it is
normal for companies to still use these platforms to create dashboards, more
advanced tools are making it easier than ever for companies to streamline the
analytics process. Tools like DashThis integrate
directly with online analytic platforms like Google analytics, Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, MailChimp, doubleclick, brightcove, etc., etc., to
create an ongoing dashboard of periodic analytics. Tools within apps like
DashThis allow users to establish timeframes for capturing data, so users can
report weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. Software like Tableau allow users to create interactive
dashboards with their data. For example a user can place a map on a dashboard
next to a chart, and if you hover over areas on the chart, the corresponding
parts of the map will change color, and vice versa. As companies begin to
realize just how important data analytics are to their bottom line, visual analytics
tools will become more and more technologically advanced.
Streamlined
Visualization
While it is extremely important to understand when to use different
types of charts and graphics to visualize and explain data, new software like
SAS Visual Analytics
provide tools like autocharting to create
data visualizations faster than ever. In SAS Visual Analytics and Tableau, a
user just needs to drag and drop two pieces of information onto the canvas and
a chart will automatically be created showing the relationship between the two
metrics. Software like this is extremely expensive, but as more and more brands
create competing software, and as more brands begin to utilize big data, autocharting
will become more normalized.
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