The Importance of feedback, iteration, and constant improvement in data visualization (and finding people that will tell you when you are full of crap.) July 5, 2017 Overview People ask me how three opinionated people can write a book like The Big Book of Dashboards together. Didn’t we disagree on things? How were we able [...]
May 10, 2017 Overview A nod of appreciation to Tom Davenport who first brought this issue to my attention. Most organizations want to wildly exceed customer expectations for all facets of all their products and services, but if your organization is like most, you're not going to be able to do this. Therefore, how should [...]
April 25, 2017 Overview I became a big fan of adding a marginal histogram to scatterplots when I first saw them applied in Tableau visualizations from Shine Pulikathara and Ben Jones. For those not familiar with how these work, consider the scatterplot shown in Figure 1 that shows the relationship between salary and age. [...]
More thoughts on the Markimekko chart and in particular how to build one in Tableau. April 4, 2017 Overview Given my reluctance to embrace odd chart types and my conviction that I would find something better I was surprised to find myself last month writing about -- and endorsing -- the Marimekko chart. If I [...]
Or How I stopped worrying and learned to love appreciate the Marimekko March 19, 2017 Overview Readers of my blog know that I suffer from what Maarten Lambrechts calls xenographphobia, the fear of unusual graphics. I’ll encounter a chart type that I’ve not seen before, purse my lips, and think (smugly) that there is undoubtedly [...]
And… what did they choose? March 8, 2017 Overview I’ve discussed how to visualize check-all-that-apply questions in Tableau. Assuming your survey is coded as Yes = 1 and No = 0, you can fashion a sorted bar chart like this the one shown in Figure 1 using the following calculation. SUM([Value]) / SUM(Number of Records) [...]
February 22, 2017 Overview Earlier this week Gartner, Inc. published its “Magic Quadrant” report on Business Intelligence and Analytics (congratulations to Tableau for being cited as a leader for the fifth year in a row). Coincidentally, this report came on the heels of one of my clients needing to create a scatterplot where there were [...]
Overview Prior to working with Jeffrey Shaffer and Andy Cotgreave on the The Big Book of Dashboards I tended to look at BANs -- large, occasionally overstuffed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) -- as ornamental rather than informational. I thought they just took up space on a dashboard without adding much analysis. I’ve changed my mind [...]
February 10, 2017 I was greatly saddened earlier this week when I read that Hans Rosling had died. Rosling was a Swedish professor of Global Health who, using data, stunning visualizations, and incredible charm, changed the way people understand the world. I first became aware of his work six years ago when a friend showed [...]
By Steve Wexler January 17, 2017 This is a follow-up to the post Jeff Shaffer and I wrote about what can happen when people fail to question sources and inadvertently amplify baseless findings. Overview There’s been great feedback on things the community can do to maintain all the good things about Makeover Monday (MM) and [...]
