Page 131 - DCAP208_Management Support Systems

Management Support Systems

Notes Advanced Data Visualizations: More advanced examples of data visualization include
scatter graphs, bubble charts, spark line charts, geographical maps, tree maps, Pareto
charts, and many others. These more sophisticated visualizations are designed to display
data in ways tailored to a specific function or industry.

Quick Analysis: Successful visuals that depict measurable, actionable data allow decision
makers to easily pinpoint and examine outliers. They also allow quick analysis to expose
patterns, correlations, business conditions and trends.

Analysts who do not know what the target should be or who do not have the background
information to assist them, will interpret this gauge differently than someone who has
additional knowledge of the situation. This leads to confusion, missed opportunities and
loss of time.
However, if you add context to the gauge in the form of a target and adjust the scale of the
gauge so that the start and end points are more in line with that target, you can clearly see
that the number of hits of this landing page is clearly lower than desired.

Did u know? Context allows a story to be told by the data without the risk of
misinterpretation and allows everyone to come to the same conclusion.
Take Action: Decision makers need to interact with their data to expose trends, highlight
opportunities and raise red flags quickly and accurately. Their data should answer key
questions and provide insight into issues that contribute directly to the decision making
process. Presenting this data visually and adding contextual information to complement
the analysis process not only makes it quicker and easier to pinpoint areas of opportunities
and concern, but also enables decision makers to take action with their data. Successful
data visualization provides the ability to expose problem areas and communicate those
problems universally. Not being able to clearly identify and share your discoveries to
back up your decisions can mean the difference between taking appropriate and decisive
action and losing momentum or failing to act.
Using data visualization to display large amounts of data is nothing new. However, its
value and use in making business decisions is often overlooked or poorly implemented.
The key to success in using data visualization is ensuring that: the best and most appropriate
types of visualizations are used; the data is always put into perspective with contextual
information allowing for the information to be universally understood; and that the data
being measured within the data visualization enables the user to take action based on the
observations being made. With a good set of visuals that keep these key success factors in
mind, decisions can be made more quickly and with more confidence so that your business
can continue to grow.

Task Compare and contrast line chart and pie chart.

Self Assessment

State True or False:
11. Informed decision making is the foundation upon which successful businesses are built.
12. Data visualization enables users to create graphical and often interactive representations
of data sets big and small.

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