BA03 - Data Visualization

Service Description

In the digital age, organizations are inundated with data, creating an ocean of information yet leaving them stranded in a desert of insight. As analytics becomes increasingly integral to business strategy, the challenge shifts from gathering data to distilling it into meaningful insights. This deluge of data, if not navigated correctly, can overwhelm even the most seasoned professionals, leaving critical insights buried under layers of complexity. The gap between data collection and actionable information widens, complicating decision-making processes. As David McCandless aptly puts it, “Visualizing information is a form of knowledge compression.” Without the ability to compress and visualize this knowledge, organizations risk being left behind in an era driven by informed decisions. Recognizing the power of data visualization as a bridge over this gap, our workshop offers a lifeline. In just one day, we provide a comprehensive yet practical exploration of the analytics value chain, with a special emphasis on data visualization's role in crystallizing and communicating insights. Learning outcomes - Understand the the analytics value chain, how it creates value for organizations and the role that data visualization plays in it - Appreciate that data visualization plays different roles along the value chain; including Exploration and Communication - Learn how to select the right data visualization to convey the intended message from the data. Also how to highlight and draw attention to elements in the data visualization to ensure that the intended message is delivered - Appreciate the design considerations when designing Business Dashboards to facilitate self service analytics; specifically making the insights accessible as opposed conveying predetermine messages Technical Requirements - In the interest of helping students build the requisite skills, much of the workshop will be application based, where students practice their skills on the most popular analytics platform - MS Excel - Students will be required have their own internet accessible laptops with MS Excel (2016 or later).