Pros and Cons of Data Visualization

Data and technology go hand in hand. We are exposed to a lot of data on a daily basis so viewing and interpreting it has become more important than ever. Companies and business owners are demanding employees that have a data skill set so that they can understand and know the impact of the data and come up with solutions. It is at this moment when data visualization comes into play. The purpose of data visualization is to analyze and make the data accessible as well as comprehensible enough. There are a number of different tools and techniques that are used for data visualization. One such tool is the digital dashboard on which many businesses depend. Let’s find more about data visualization through this blog.

What is Data Visualization?

Data visualization, as the name suggests is the visual or the graphical depiction of different forms of data and information. In order to derive meaning out of the data, businesses usually use visual tools or interactive elements such as maps, plots, charts, graphs as well as animations. By summarizing and translating large amounts of information in a visual form, a company can easily and efficiently comprehend trends, patterns or the outliers within the data. This is essential in order to make data driven decisions and put it before their untechnical audience who cannot understand the raw data. Sometimes data visualization can be troublesome if the data is misinterpreted or misrepresented. Thus, it is important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages when going through the process of data visualization.

Pros 

Humans are quickly attracted to colors or patterns. We are able to discern one color from another or one shape from another such as a circle from a square. Visual elements are everywhere such as in movies, advertisements, art etc. Data visualization is also a kind of attention grabbing visual art that helps us to focus on the message. Through graphs and charts we can effortlessly tell the outliers and the trends. On the other hand, if it’s a long spreadsheet of data we cannot interpret it that easily. We can quickly visualize the associations and patterns and internalize what we see. With data visualization, information sharing becomes convenient and you can search for different opportunities in an interactive way.

Cons 

At times, data visualization can lead to confusion and biases because the visualization is done or designed in a wrong manner. Also, sometimes there are a number of data points so there are chances of having erroneous assumptions and sharing of inaccurate information. If there is correlation between variables that does not always depict that there will be causation too. Moreover, the actual messages might get lost as it is translated.

The benefits of data visualization are more as compared to the trivial disadvantages but with the use of good quality tools, software and through skilled employees the desired outcome can be achieved and errors can be minimized.