Page 105 - DCAP208_Management Support Systems

Management Support Systems

Notes
Figure 7.1: Data Visualization

Source: http://www.sas.com/data-visualization/overview.html
Because of the amount of data collected on the age and reliability of the cell phone motors, a
traditional electronic spreadsheet cannot visually represent the information due to data
presentation limitations. And, if printed out, the spreadsheets would be a humongous pile of
paper on the director’s desk. In both cases, the director would spend hours searching among
thousands of rows and columns of data with still no concrete answer to the original question
about the relationship between the motor’s age and its reliability.
Data visualization presents the data in a way that the director can easily interpret, saving time
and energy.
For example, the graph below shows the number of units that correspond to each age (represented
by the color gradient) as well as the reliability as the age of a unit increases. In a matter of
seconds, the director can see that units approaching 10 years of age are approximately 40 percent
reliable. This visual simplifies the data, instantly clarifying the factors affecting the reliability of
the cell phone motors.
Figure 7.2: Graph Showing the Number of Units

Source: http://www.sas.com/data-visualization/overview.html

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