Numbers alone do not tell the whole story — it is the insights hidden within data that genuinely impact business decision-making. From identifying market trends to optimizing operations, the ability to transform raw data into compelling visualizations is crucial for organizations across industries. Data visualization turns complex datasets into clear, actionable insights. The online Master of Science (MS) in Management Information Systems (MIS) with a Specialization in Business Analytics program from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) equips students with the skills to master this critical art.
What Is Data Visualization?
Data visualization is the discipline of representing data through visual elements. These graphical displays communicate intricate data relationships and data-driven insights clearly and transparently. The demand for data skills among employees is steadily rising each year, necessitating an understanding of data and its impact at every level of an organization.
To enhance data comprehension, visualization in dashboards has emerged as a key solution for businesses to analyze and share information effectively. By leveraging elements like charts, graphs and maps, data visualization tools provide an accessible way to discern trends, identify outliers and uncover patterns within data.
Software tools for creating visualizations are essential for analyzing vast amounts of information and making data-driven decisions. To retrieve data for analysis, you must connect with data sources such as relational databases. Users can then select the optimal data presentation method, with some tools automatically providing display recommendations.
Purposes of Data Visualization
Data visualization serves many purposes within organizations, as the Harvard Business Review categorized into four key areas: idea generation, idea illustration, visual discovery and everyday data visualization. Idea generation utilizes data visualization to spur the exchange of diverse perspectives and highlight common concerns among teams. These visualizations, although often unrefined, lay the foundation for project alignment.
Idea illustration employs data visualization to convey concepts, tactics or processes. Commonly used in learning environments, idea illustration can also represent organizational structures or workflows, facilitating communication among individuals responsible for specific tasks. Project managers frequently leverage tools like Gantt and waterfall charts to illustrate workflows visually. At the same time, data modeling utilizes abstraction to represent data flow within an enterprise’s information system.
Visual discovery and everyday data visualization align closely with data teams’ responsibilities. While visual discovery aids data professionals in identifying patterns, relationships and trends within datasets, everyday data visualization supports the subsequent storytelling phase after discovering a new insight.
Data Visualization Forms and Strategies
Data visualization is broadly categorized into two main types: exploration and explanation. Exploration visualizations help individuals understand the story the data tells, uncovering patterns, trends and insights. Explanation visualizations aim to convey a specific narrative or message to an audience by leveraging data in a compelling and understandable manner.
Among the various data visualization techniques, some of the most commonly employed include heat maps, which use color gradients to represent variations in data values across a surface, and charts and graphs, such as bar charts, line graphs and scatter plots, which depict relationships, trends and distributions within data. Other popular forms include geospatial visualizations like cartograms and choropleths, which leverage distorted maps and shading patterns to convey information like population density, as well as temporal visualizations like time series and Gantt charts, which illustrate data over a linear timeline.
Why Is Data Visualization Important?
Presenting information in a visual format enhances comprehension, enabling people to obtain insights more rapidly. Visualization empowers employees to make more informed decisions based on the data. It also facilitates the communication of these insights and illuminates the relationships between independent variables, aiding in identifying trends, understanding event frequencies and tracking connections between operations and performance. Well-designed graphics capture attention and maintain interest. Often, interpreting these graphics requires no specialized training, enabling universal understanding across an organization.
The ability to visualize and comprehend complex datasets is crucial for organizations striving to be data-driven. Effective data visualization empowers enterprises to transform processes by incorporating data and analytics into decision-making cycles.
Become an Expert in Communicating Through Data Visualization
The SIUE online MS in MIS – Business Analytics program offers a Data Visualization course that introduces students to visualization as a critical process in the data analytics lifecycle. It provides hands-on experience using industry-leading visualization software to address real-world business questions effectively. By mastering the art of transforming complex datasets into compelling visual narratives, graduates are positioned to pursue a range of rewarding career opportunities, where their ability to derive insights from data and communicate them clearly will be invaluable assets.
Learn more about Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s online Master of Science in Management Information Systems with a Specialization in Business Analytics program.
