“A picture is worth a thousand words.” This over 100-year-old English saying gets a new meaning when the data collected can’t even be explained with a thousand words. Visualization of data is an important part of managing data and communicating its message. Good visualization uses fundamentals of human perception, and it is considered an art. There are many ways to visualize data, including different kinds of charts, graphs, and other techniques that show relationships and connections between data. Software supporting visualizations range from Microsoft Offce to Python visualization packages to Tableau and other highly specialized software systems.
- Historical Perspective
- Look at two classic historical examples of visualizations by William Playfair and Charles Minard.
- Creating Effective Visualizations
- Read some guidelines for creating visualizations that effectively tell a coherent story about the data.
- Examples of Effective and Poor Visualizations
- Look at six examples of visualizations and discuss what works and what doesn’t work.
- Overview of Visualization Tools
- Give an overview of five commonly used visualization tools.
