Data visualization is the visual representation of data to help people understand patterns and insights that may be missed in text-based data. Modern tools go beyond standard charts to represent data through infographics, maps, and other complex visuals. Data visualization has become essential for business intelligence as it makes data insights accessible throughout organizations and easier to understand than raw data or statistics. The concept of visualizing data has existed for centuries but tools now automate detecting correlations and optimal chart types to represent insights.

1. The beauty of data
visualization
Debashish Jana

2. What Is Data Visualization?
Data visualization is a general term that describes any effort to help
people understand the significance of data by placing it in a visual
context. Patterns, trends and correlations that might go undetected in
text-based data can be exposed and recognized easier with data
visualization software.

3. Today's data visualization tools go beyond the standard charts and
graphs used in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, displaying data in more
sophisticated ways such as infographics, dials and gauges, geographic
maps, sparklines, heat maps, and detailed bar, pie and fever charts.

4. Importance of data visualization
Data visualization has become the de facto standard for modern
business intelligence (BI). The success of the two leading vendors in the
BI space, Tableau and Qlik -- both of which heavily emphasize
visualization -- has moved other vendors toward a more visual
approach in their software. Virtually all BI software has strong data
visualization functionality.

5. Data visualization tools have been important in democratizing data and
analytics and making data-driven insights available to workers
throughout an organization. They are typically easier to operate than
traditional statistical analysis software or earlier versions of BI
software. This has led to a rise in lines of business implementing data
visualization tools on their own, without support from IT.

6. History of Data Visualization
The concept of using pictures to understand data has been around for
centuries, from maps and graphs in the 17th century to the invention
of the pie chart in the early 1800s. Several decades later, one of the
most cited examples of statistical graphics occurred when Charles
Minard mapped Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. The map depicted the
size of the army as well as the path of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow
– and tied that information to temperature and time scales for a more
in-depth understanding of the event.

7. Examples of data visualization
Many business departments implement data visualization software to
track their own initiatives. For example, a marketing team might
implement the software to monitor the performance of an email
campaign, tracking metrics like open rate, click-through rate and
conversion rate.

8. How data visualization works
Data visualization software allows the user to select the best way of
presenting the data, but, increasingly, software automates this step.
Some tools automatically interpret the shape of the data and detect
correlations between certain variables and then place these discoveries
into the chart type that the software determines is optimal.

9. Informative: The most basic function of a report is to inform the
consumer of something and a picture can do this in a universal way.

10. Efficient: Perhaps the biggest benefit of utilizing data visualizations is
the efficiency gained through proper execution. A well designed visual
will save the data analyst precious time as it can communicate the
message of the data concisely and without ambiguity.

11. Appealing: Much like a masterpiece draws the viewer in and captivates
their thoughts as they gaze at the picture, properly designed data
visualizations will draw you in and lead you to the intended conclusion
in a visually pleasing way.

12. Why data visualization and reporting tools
are important for business users?
Visualized data reporting help to effectively research on customer
profile such as age, behaviors, landing page, actions and many other
things that improve digital marketing efforts. And it’s really important
for any size business to compare, analyze and boost business growth
pattern with data visualization.

13. Know the following benefits and you will
understand why data visualization is
needed?
Data visualization tools are effective to understand complex data and
multi-dimensional data. Data visualization helps to visualize trending
data in application and website on the internet. And anyone can use
data visualization techniques to discover insights and new conclusions.