Data Visualization

Data Visualization is the effective graphic representation of data.

Processes

Generalized Data Visualization processes can be expressed as follows:

$\\\left \{ d_{1},d_{2},...,d_{_{n}} \right \} \Rightarrow Q\left ( d \right ) \Rightarrow V\left ( d,f,t,c \right ) \Rightarrow P\left (V,m \right ) \Rightarrow A\left ( P \right ) \\\\\mathrm{\textup{where:}} \\\\d\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{data}} \\f\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{formats (numbers, charts, graphs, plots, tables...)}} \\t\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{texts (labels, descriptions,...)}} \\c\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{colors (hue, shade, tint, tone, saturation, brightness...)}} \\m\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{media (slides, web, print)}} \\Q\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{query functions (extracting data from databases, etc.)}} \\V\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{visualization functions (forming visuals based on parameters)}} \\P\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{presentation functions (displaying visuals on selected media) }} \\A\,\,\,\,\,\mathrm{\textup{audience consumption (interacting with and understanding information)}}$

Effectiveness Factors

To be effective, Data Visualization must connect with the intended audience. Effectiveness factors include:

Purpose: effectively addressing the purpose(s) of the visualization(s), e.g., explaining a subject, invoking a response such as a sale or inquiry, entertaining an audience
Titles: having concise titles that efficiently convey the purpose of a slide, chart, table, etc.
Clarity: having the content fit the purpose in a way that is readily understood by the audience
Design: presenting the right balance of visual elements (e.g., formats, texts, colors)
Cost: costs range from free for open source to fairly expensive for commercial products

Commercial Products

A fairly complete list with filtering can be found here. Popular products include:

Data Visualization

Processes

Effectiveness Factors

Commercial Products

References