Win with Advanced Business Analytics: Creating Business Value from Your Data

CONVEY MEANING

This may seem like an obvious point, but you would be surprised at how many examples we have seen in our 40-plus collective year career of analysts putting together graphs or charts that have no clear or obvious meaning attached to them. Analysts sometimes are too close to the data and lose perspective when putting the data visualization elements together, resulting in the audience being unable to grasp the meaning and feeling confused. Some data visualizations lean toward intellectual curiosity and lack clear business meaning. In our opinion, the meaning of each data visualization graphic should be obvious to the reviewer, without a lot of explanation or background. Each graphic should stand on its own.

For example, bring your attention to Exhibit 6.1, which shows the relative market shares of Sotheby’s vs. Christies over time.2 The market share remains relatively stable over time, so it’s really not clear what the meaning of the graphic is or what the designer is trying to represent. There was clearly thought and effort behind the creation of the information graphic; however, besides showing the reviewer that market share is increasing over time, there doesn’t seem to be any clear meaning.

Exhibit 6.1 Sotheby’s/Christie’s Worldwide Sales: Market Share Analysis

In contrast, Exhibit 6.2 shows the relationship between automobile speed and traffic ticket price. From ...