5 Reasons Good Data Visualisation Really Matters

Data of all sorts is being gathered and collated on an unprecedented scale within organisations of all sizes and businesses quickly having their eyes opened to the potential benefits that an abundance of information might yield.

In this context, effective visualisation is emerging as a priority area for anyone involved in developing data strategies and an increasingly pertinent issue for enterprises in a huge variety of fields.

With that in mind, here are five of the key reasons why good data visualisation is important and how it helps drive developments in different business contexts.

1. Improved utility

From a management perspective, data is simply more useful and usable if it is presented in ways that are easier to understand and appreciate instinctively. Non-experts in data-related fields are increasingly recognising the importance of data-driven insights and taking the time to understand what different data sets are telling them. In in these circumstances, better visualisation techniques can often be crucial in expediting and streamline developments.   

2. Idea generation

Data gathered on different areas of a company’s operations don’t always yield immediate results or insights that can be taken forward right away. It is often the case that the usefulness of different sets of data will only become clear further down the road, when relevant parties have had time to join the dots and come up with ideas that serve to make strategic use of the information they have access to. Improved visualisation can play a big role in sparking new ideas and helping professionals in any discipline understand how data might be used advantageously.

3. Improved analysis

Focussing on how data is visualised in different ways also opens up the prospect for improved analysis over time as insights can be built upon gradually. How long it might take and in what ways real progress might be made through the use of data is not necessarily predictable for business or for their different teams and units. But key insights can be arrived at more efficiently if visualisation methods are fit for purpose and they succeed in clarifying relevant issues in a given context.

4. Better data-based collaboration  

Good data visualisation methods make it easier for people to understand what the information they’re looking at really means or might mean for the future. In doing so, improving visualisation also makes it more straightforward for individuals and departments within organisations to collaborate and see the value in information and the insights being highlighted. In short, collaboration requires mutual understanding and good data visualisation methods can help in giving strategic discussions a much clearer focus.

5. Challenges made clearer

Another key reason why data visualisation matters so much to enterprises today is because it can serve to shine a light on the kind of problems a company should be tackling. Visualisation helps organisations spot potential issues in advance so that they can prepare for rather than react to challenges as they arise. In doing so, good visualisation helps make businesses more robust and potentially much better prepared for the future.