« BI's Root of All Evil | Main | Build, Buy or Both? »
June 13, 2008
BI Eye Candy - Visualization
I am absolutely convinced that information visualization will be BI's biggest future trend. Why? Because we are all too inundated with too much information, data and distraction that it is getting more and more difficult to separate the opportunities from the noise.
We all know that visually we can interpret information, understand relationships and identify patterns much faster, yet we still have yet to maximize the potential.
I think the biggest stumbling block is how information visualization is presented and designed. Few are trained to understand what is the representation to use based on the data presented. And many of us to get too tied up dressing up graphs instead of letting the data speak for itself.
I am a big fan and follower of Stephen Few. He has a great little quiz that I recommend you give a try:
http://www.perceptualedge.com/files/GraphDesignIQ.html
It provides a great illustration of some of our current problems.
We need to start listening to what the data is saying and pick the visualization that fits best. Not the other way around!!
Form follows function!!
I welcome your thoughts...
Eleanor
Eleanor Taylor is Marketing Director at Pathfinder . She can be reached at etaylor@pathf.com or by visiting www.pathf.com
Posted by Eleanor Taylor at June 13, 2008 10:15 AM
