Does your Data Lie? – Top Key Takeaways

After overwhelming response to the first episode Are your Dashboards UGLY? held on 12th Nov 2020, we came back with yet another amazing Webinar “Does your Data Lie?” with our experts from ibi and Amtex BI on 21^St January 2021.

Does your Data Lie? This Webinar focused on how to get better quality, user friendly dashboards through applying best practices while creating Charts and visualizations. The focus was on building dashboards that are creative, accurate, and insightful.

“You consume visual analytics every day without knowing. Data Visualizations are everywhere around you.” – Benazir Khan

OUR EXPERT SPEAKERS:

Dinesh Kalyanasundaram – Vice President, Amtex BI

Benazir Khan – Senior Manager, Amtex BI

Tim Howard – Director Sales, Amtex BI

Andy Kirby – Senior Pre-Sales Engineer, Information Builders

Here are some Key Takeaways :

3 FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS

The first and most important step to is to have answers to the 3 fundamental questions:

1. Who is Audience –

There is very thin line between Designer & Consumer. You should know for whom you are creating the dashboard. When designing a data visualization, you first must clearly consider your target audience. Through what medium will the data visualization be conveyed and for what purpose? What’s the skill level of your audience? What response do you want to invoke through the visualization?

After you formulate the answers to these questions in your mind, you’re ready to design your visualization with pen and paper, and then build it in digital form.

2. Broad Categorization of Audience –

You cannot just deliver visualizations. You need to deliver engaging and insightful analytics. The 4 types of Audience are:

C- Level
Fellow Analysts
Public
Others

3. Highlight Deltas –

User Intention – Ask your Audience what they want to achieve out of your dashboard. Like- Does delta makes sense to them. Remember to answer quickly what has changed. Create a user-friendly dashboard.

UNBIASED INSIGHTS

One can achieve unbiased insights thru clarity, accuracy, context & creativity. Remember correlation doesn’t imply causation. Always zoom into trends and see what your TA are interested in. Don’t overwhelm your charts, keep it intuitive, visualize accurately, no conspiracy theories, appealing colors and proper segmentation of charts.

Remember – Place your visualization according to their importance. Deliver Insights with recommendations. WHEN IT COMES TO ANALYSIS CONTEXT MATTERS.

GO ALL IN

Go all in while sketching it out. Understand what’s the need, and talk it out. Understand the context and needs and where to put your efforts. The Four Types of Visualizations you need to consider while choosing the chart –

Declarative
Data Driven
Exploratory
Conceptual

Showing the value thru chart will also help with visualization, our expert Tim Howard recommends Good Charts by Scott Berinato & Abela’s Chart Selection Diagram.

“Keep in mind to use chart as a guide not as a final answer.”- Tim Howard

Choose the right data…dive deep.

Use visualization tools to explore
Find patterns and trends
Don’t jump ahead

Refine, Understand, and Prototype what you got and make it happen.

Choose your tools
Work with a designer
Collaborate to make sure you are hitting the mark
There’s no such thing as perfect

“Ask why until you get deeper & get there” – Tim Howard

RESEARCH IS GOOD

Check online for inspiration, look at different dashboards & take tips from what others have done. WebFOCUS supports data storytelling, predictive analytics, and intelligent recommendations in addition to insights and visualizations. Our expert Andy Kirby recommends – Drilldown & Watchtower 2.0

“WE ARE GRAPHICAL BY NATURE” – ANDY KIRBY

CONCLUSION

The webinar focused on the importance of having well-researched, user friendly, insightful, and a visually appealing Dashboard. Who is our Target Audience and what do we want out of it is very important point to consider while selecting a Dashboard. Always remember, context matters.

Look forward for details on our next event. For queries or for a copy of the webinar recording, feel free to reach out to us. Do follow us on LinkedIn

You can now Download the presentation file, by clicking here

Does your Data Lie? – Top Key Takeaways