Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    sales and data analytics
    How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
    9 Min Read
    data analytics and truck accident claims
    How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
    7 Min Read
    predictive analytics for interior designers
    Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
    8 Min Read
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Data Comes Alive!
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Big Data > Data Visualization > Data Comes Alive!
CommentaryData Visualization

Data Comes Alive!

MIKE20
MIKE20
3 Min Read
SHARE

When most people think of data, images of complex Microsoft workbooks and spreadsheets come to mind. Tables with rows and columns of structured data like dates, stock prices, sales, home sales, and invoices.

Contents
Stories Over SpreadsheetsSimon SaysFeedback

When most people think of data, images of complex Microsoft workbooks and spreadsheets come to mind. Tables with rows and columns of structured data like dates, stock prices, sales, home sales, and invoices.

Historically, many analysts and execs alike have had to think about data in this rather pedestrian way. To some extent, BI projects started in the mid to late 1990s changed that, although many organizations never “got around” to them. Excel was the killer app for this type of thing: simple, relatively powerful, and good enough.

More Read

Flip that Data!
Dashboard Envy
The Fallacy of the Data Scientist Shortage
Nigel Turner: “It’s all about the data. Or Is it?”
The Future of BI in Two Words

These days, however, data visualization tools like Tableau and others allow users at all levels within an organization to think of data in a fundamentally different way. To paraphrase from the classic Peter Frampton album, data is starting to come alive.

Stories Over Spreadsheets

Are we talking about the death of the spreadsheet? Of course not. I just don’t see that happening anytime soon. However, no longer is Excel with attendant charts and pivot tables the sole means by which to present data, particularly to decision makers.

In the words of Kris Hammond, CTO of Narrative Science, a joint research project at Northwestern University Schools of Engineering and Journalism, ”For some people, a spreadsheet is a great device. For most people, not so much so. The story. The paragraph. The report. The prediction. The advisory. Those are much more powerful objects in our world, and they’re what we’re used to.”

No argument here, but simple Excel charts can’t possibly do justice to certain types of data. Look at the following figure:

One could make the argument that this is the equivalent of data art.

Simon Says

Get out of the “data is boring” mind-set. It doesn’t have to be. SaaS-based and open-source tools allow even cash-strapped organizations to make data interactive, informative, and dare I say exciting. Forget new colors, fonts, or superficial treatments. More than ever, it’s easy to make your data tell a story, to learn new things from visualized data that would otherwise be lost in plain-Jane columns and rows.

Without question, data can be turned into information and, ultimately, knowledge. Old school employees and execs need to realize that decisions for the most part today should be made based upon solid data, but the presentation of that data need not be boring.

Feedback

What say you?

Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

sales and data analytics
How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
Analytics Big Data Exclusive
ai in marketing
How AI and Smart Platforms Improve Email Marketing
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive Marketing
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive
AI supply chain
AI Tools Are Strengthening Global Supply Chains
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

Image
AnalyticsBest PracticesBig DataBusiness IntelligenceCloud ComputingData ManagementData MiningData VisualizationExclusiveHadoopHardwareITMapReducePolicy and GovernanceSoftwareUnstructured Data

6 Simple Steps to a Big Data Strategy

6 Min Read

Social Network Analyzer Download Available

5 Min Read

Sleep patterns: Not too complicated (at least for me)

4 Min Read

Take the Strata Vizathlon Challenge & Visualize Yourself in the Big Apple.

3 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

data-driven web design
5 Great Tips for Using Data Analytics for Website UX
Big Data
giveaway chatbots
How To Get An Award Winning Giveaway Bot
Big Data Chatbots Exclusive

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?