Communication is one of the key ingredients of successful business analytics. The outcomes of analytics will not help anyone if they cannot be communicated effectively. This is why business analytics isn’t just about numbers and quant skills. There is an art to effective communication. One example of this is using pictures. 

Data visualization is the communication of data, statistics, and insights in graphical form. This will help your audience understand – what is the key takeaway? Sometimes analytics can break things apart in interesting ways, but synthesis is the ability to pull everything together into clear communication at the end of the process. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Visualization presents information in a manner that conveys key messages. It is about telling the “story” of the data. This type of narration relates to the power of human attention and focus. People focus on what is most interesting to them. Pictures are inherently powerful for both human understanding and emotion. “Our perception is sharpest when our care is heightened” (Jonathan Safran Foer). Although we live in the era of data analytics, people will not care if you can’t convince them that there is something interesting to see. Raw data and statistics do not stir the human heart.

Charts are at the heart of data visualization. Here are three key categories of charts:

• Histogram
• Pie Chart
• Line Chart
• Bar Chart
• Scatterplot

Here are some of the important uses of each of these charts:

• Histogram – Show the distribution of the data (e.g., the number of observations in certain numerical ranges)
• Pie Chart – Only used for proportions of a whole (e.g., numbers that sum to 1 or 100)
• Line Chart – Typically used to show the history of a number over time
• Bar Chart – Extremely versatile. Vertical or horizontal. Use to compare the scale of numbers visually.
• Scatterplot – Show the relationship between two fields (e.g., a dot for every data point on X and Y axes). Ideal for visualizing correlation.

A data dashboard provides a regularly updated reading of key performance indicators. Some charts are designed to automatically update with new data.

Imagine a future in which you create a data visualization dashboard for your managers that they can view on their phone. When you can convert data into useful and accessible information, that adds a lot of value to your organization.