Chapter 1: Data Visualization

Analytics is the science of examining raw data with the purpose of drawing conclusions about that information and using it for decision-making. Before the formal written language, there were pictures which shared ideas, plans, and history. Most of the knowledge that we have of our ancestors is from these pictures drawn on caves or monuments. In today’s world, visualizations in the form of bar charts, scatter plots, or dashboards are essential tools in business intelligence as they help managers to absorb information and take apt decisions quickly. Dashboards in particular are very helpful for managers as multiple charts and graphs giving the latest information about sales, returns, market share, etc. keep them up to date on the latest developments in the company. There are a number of visualization software in the market which are easy to learn and communicate the analyzed data in an easily understood form; the leading ones being Tableau, QlikView, etc. with each one having its positives. This chapter also looks at the pairing of visualization tools with different measurements of data.