Why as a Business Analytics need a Data Visualization ?

Data visualization is the graphical presentation of abstract information for two purposes: the making of sense (also called data analysis) and communication. Important stories that live in our data and the visualization of data is a powerful means to discover and understand these stories, and then present them to others. Information is abstract in that it describes things that are not physical. The statistical information is abstract. Whether it is sales, sickness, athletic performance, or anything else, even if it does not belong to the physical world, we can still show it visually, but for this, we must find a way to shape what has none. This translation of the abstract into physical attributes of vision (length, position, size, shape and color, to name a few) can only be successful if we understand a little about visual perception and cognition. In other words, to visualize the data effectively, we must follow the design principles that derive from an understanding of human perception.

As the saying goes, "an image is worth a thousand words" - often more - but only when the story is said graphically better than verbally and the image is well designed. You could stare at a table of numbers all day and never see what would be immediately obvious when looking at a good picture of those same numbers.

Several facts now come to the fore:

• Domestic sales were significantly and consistently higher than international sales.

• Domestic sales showed an upward trend throughout the year.

• International sales, on the other hand, remained relatively flat, with one blatant exception: they declined sharply in August.

• Domestic sales showed a cyclical, upward, downward pattern, which was repeated quarterly, always peaking in the last month of the quarter and then decreasing drastically in the first month of the following quarter.

What these numbers can not communicate when presented as text in a table, which our brains interpret through the use of verbal processing, becomes visible and understandable when communicating visually. This is the power of "data visualization".

Although data visualization usually includes relationships between quantitative values,  so it has benefit like it can  show relationships that are not quantitative in nature. For example, connections between people on a social networking site such as Facebook or between terrorist suspects can be displayed using a display of nodes and links.


For more information on Business Analytics tools, please visit 
https://analyticsinbusinessworld.blogspot.com/