Why Data Viz

Sometimes I spend more time visualising the results than getting to those results in the first place!

Is it worth it? 100%!

Take this piece of visualisation for example:

When you think closely, there are five variables in this animated graph:

1. Life expectancy:

2. Income (inflation adjusted)

3. Continent of the country

4. Population of the country

5. Year

Behind this, there are actually 120k data points.

2 times this much:

Hundreds of man hours would have been put into making this possible, animation of the graph, the cinematography, script, editing, venue etc. etc..

But was it worth it? Absolutely, 10 million views, if each view spends 2 minutes of the 4:47, it would equate to 38 years of time, or 330,000 hours. And of course, this means millions of viewers spending very little time, being educated, entertained, and probably taking in something interesting to remember for years to come.

In this instance, the visualisation part of the exercise required tonnes more time than analysing the results itself, but it has also managed to deliver the impact infinite more times.

In summary, why do we need to visualise data?

1. Improve communication: it makes it easier for stakeholders to make informed decisions based on data, leading to more successful marketing campaigns and business strategies.

2. Better memorisation: when data is presented in an engaging way, it is more likely to be remembered, which can help to reinforce the key messages that businesses want to communicate.

3. Highlights what's important: when you're staring at a spreadsheet, it's easy to miss important trends and patterns. But with data visualisation, those trends and patterns jump right out at you.

4. Helps tell a story: data visualisation is not just about presenting data, it's also about telling a story with that data. By using graphs and charts to present your data, you can create a narrative that's easy to follow and understand

"When it comes to remembering information, pictures are an incredibly efficient tool. If we hear a piece of information, we will remember just 10% three days later. If we add a picture, we will remember 65%"

-John Medina, Brain Rules

Start your visual data journey today with VizAbility.

#dataviz #data #dataanalysis #vizability