From Numbers to Pictures to Action

I love data: analyzing it, slicing it, dicing it, filtering it and finding creative ways to condense a mass of numbers into meaningful insights for my clients.  The statistics are hardly complex.  My data machinations rarely go beyond averages, ratios and the occasional standard deviation.  The fun isn’t in the data manipulation.  The exciting step begins when I  transform the data into pictures that reveal  the patterns, trends, relationships and often hidden messages buried deep within that mass of information.

Stephen Few is one of the gurus in the field of data / information visualization.  In the introduction to his latest book, “Now You See It,” he states, “When we represent data in visual form, our ability to think about it is dramatically enhanced.  Visual representations not only make the patterns, trends and exceptions in numbers visible and understandable, they also extend the capacity of our memory, making available in front of our eyes what we couldn’t otherwise hold all at once in our minds.  In simple terms, information visualization helps us think.”

No one can argue that a thinking aid is a very good thing.  Beyond the benefits of improving our thought processes,  however, I submit that high quality data visualization extends our value as evaluators.  In my literature scan, a pervasive theme among evaluators is about data use.  Evaluators want the fruits of their labors to influence a decision, drive an action or spark an insight.  In a recent study published in the September 2009 American Journal of Evaluation, researchers found that quality communication was one of the most important elements related to evaluation use.  While the visualization of results is but one component of quality communication, it is, without question, key to ensuring that the users of evaluation data can quickly and clearly see what they need to address to sustain or improve their programs, processes or people. Quality data visualization creates that spark of insight and if we are fortunate enough, also produces a call to action.

I want this blog to not only create awareness and increased understanding of data visualization resources, techniques and methods, but also to build our collective capabilities in visualizing learning and HR measurement outputs. I will share my emerging knowledge and insights and request that you do the same.  More importantly, I would like you to share challenges you face when presenting evaluation outcomes so that we can collectively identify approaches to increasing the value of this data to our stakeholders.

Being the first post on this topic, I’ll start the conversation.  As I mentioned in my Data Visualization webinar on September 1, (Click Here for Webinar Archives), if you aren’t already immersed in the field, you can easily learn about it by subscribing to a few blogs.  I’ve listed my five my most frequently referenced blogs below.  Each blog has its own focus and style and each has something worthwhile to offer.  To find others, do a Google search on “data visualization blogs.” Try them out for a month.  Remove those you don’t like and share those worth exploring with this community.

•  Flowing Data
  • Flowing Data explores how designers, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data to understand ourselves better – mainly through data visualization.
  • http://feeds.feedburner.com/FlowingData
• Juice Analytics          
  • Juice Analytics was founded with the goal of bringing better tools and approaches to the analysis and presentation of business information. They share their perspective and insights through their blog, free tools and open source code.    
  • http://feeds2.feedburner.com/JuiceAnalytics
• Many Eyes
  • The IBM Visual Communication Lab embarked on a project to encourage sharing and conversation around visualizations. They “want to democratize visualization, enabling anyone on the internet to publish powerful interactive visualizations and start their own data conversations.”
  • manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/blog/feed/
• PTS Blog      
  • Peltier Technical Solutions focuses on excel charting, with examples and tutorials, VBA samples and utilities, plus general graphics and visualization topics               
  • http://feeds2.feedburner.com/peltiertech/EsrO
• Visual Business Intelligence
  • Stephen Few’s blog focuses on graphing and charting for business applications. His company, Perceptual Edge, is a consultancy that he established to help organizations learn to design simple information displays for effective analysis and communication.     
  • www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?feed=rss2

 In my next post, I’ll address common challenges we face when presenting learning evaluation data.  Please add your comments and I’ll incorporate your needs and requests into subsequent posts.  Until next time, go forth and visualize.