3 Reasons Why You Should Care About Visual Representation of Data
Human brains interpret visual information more quickly. This characteristic of our comprehension system justifies why we grasp quantitative data better when they are visualized. It means that we prefer to see colors, shapes, and graphs, instead of numbers and words.
Displaying data in graphical format is of high importance in making them analyzable. The general notion is that analysts are the only people who can see through charts. But, data visualization is a commodity that is not just limited to analysts, not anymore, not in 2021.
It allows decision-makers to see data visually, making it easier for them to comprehend difficult ideas or spot new patterns.
For instance, in any market, there are supply and demand data, that can be visualized into price charts. Based on these price charts, technical analysts and traders can find patterns and predict future prices. In this sense, the visual representation of data allows technical analysts to decide on trading.
Similar to price charts, website heatmaps provide data visualization for online businesses. Heatmaps illustrate which parts of a specific website get most of the visitors’ attention. So, it’s easy to guess how much this information is valuable for a website owner and its UX designer.
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Visual representation of data enables businesses to make sense of data, which is important due to the following reasons:
Fast Comprehension of Information
The visual representation of data enables businesses to understand a massive volume of data in a simplified format. So, they can observe large amounts of data in clear, coherent ways and make conclusions from that information.
Additionally, evaluating data in graphical format is considerably faster than studying them in spreadsheets.
This feature helps organizations solve problems and address issues promptly, and thus save business resources. For instance, you can easily address inefficiencies in the UX, if you use data visualization tools like heatmaps.
Finding Patterns and Relationships
When displayed visually, even large volumes of intricate data begin to make sense. So, it allows companies to detect highly correlated parameters. Some of these connections are clear, while others may be rather less obvious. Organizations can focus on areas that are most likely to affect their critical goals by identifying such connections.
Discovery of New Trends and Opportunities
Data visualization helps businesses spot new opportunities and trends faster than their competitors, which gives them a competitive advantage. This will eventually affect the businesses’ bottom line. It also enables businesses to tackle threats faster.
Different Types of Data Visualization
There are different types of visualizing data, each of which can suit a different situation or data type. Let’s check out some visual representation types of data:
Pie Charts
These charts are mostly used for representing the relevant proportion of various data groups to each other.
Line Charts
The visual representation in the line charts is easy to understand. Trends and sudden strikes and changes are visible in a glimpse.
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Bar Charts
Bar charts are similar to line charts, though they enable you to compare more than one variable in different periods.
Funnel Charts
Funnel charts are diagrams that illustrate the phases of a process, often the sales process. They are wonderful data visualization tools to spot issues and roadblocks.
Scatter Plots
This type of visualizing data shows the value of two variables as a series of dots. Scatter plots aid in the discovery of correlations between the two variables as well as the analysis of their distribution.
Bubble Charts
A three-dimensional scatter plot with bubbles instead of points is known as a bubble chart. Their advantage is that they can visualize a variety of values in a single graph.
Heatmaps
Heat maps utilize colors to show data. They have a wide range of applications in different sectors; from sports data visualization to weather forecasts and website UX. For example, website owners can apply heatmaps to measure their user behavior such as clicks, taps, scrolling, and so on.
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Conclusion
Many entrepreneurs are now using visual representations of data to assist them in improving their business. Information is considerably easier to comprehend when data is visible. Data visualization also enables decision-makers to see the connections between data that seem to be irrelevant to each other. As a result, analyzing the data for businesses can take less time. It allows business owners to identify problematic factors faster and take the proper measures in time.
Author Bio
Shirin Esfandi is a content writer of Watch Them Live, in Canada. She is especially interested in writing for business enthusiasts and digital marketers. You can follow her on Linkedin and read her other articles here.
