subject: The 2 Top Data Visualization Tools [print this page] A growing number of people are so perplexed with huge amounts of data everywhere. One way to practically communicate the data in such a way that it is understood by the target market is by data visualization. In a nutshell, data visualization, or what is now known to be data viz is one of the most powerful representations of information taken from their abstract forms. Since the start of the Big Data Era, more and more people have been hooked in data visualization for many reasons. They use it for teaching and research among many other things. They find the entire subject fascinating and at the same time educational. Yes, even skeptics are using fascinating and educational adjectives in a single sentence when referring to data visualization.
At the turn of the century, we found young brilliant minds to be at the forefront of data viz. They started establishing websites here and there pertaining to data and information visualization and how they unlock the challenges of understanding data. These data geeks used different kinds of tools to make their data analysis and visualization functional and appealing.
For the data to be comprehensible and at the same time entertaining, the tools used by data analysts are not that expensive and sophisticated. In fact, you will be surprised to learn that they are available for free. With just these two pertinent tools, you can also start your way to be a data visualization guru.
Tools Mostly Needed for Data Visualization
When we talk of data visualization, there may be a lot of tools that you have in mind from simple pie charts, graphs, infographics and others. But the simplest and probably the most powerful tools that you can start with are an Excel spreadsheet and a mapping application.
Excel Spreadsheet
Since Microsoft launched Excel in 1982, things are no longer the same for data analysts. The cells, rows, and columns are used by many organizations to communicate ideas. It may be considered by many as an entry level tool for data analysis and visualization. But the truth is that it has the capability to contain complex results. Excel spreadsheets allow you to organize the data which will be used to do heat mapping. This helps most businesses determine strategic marketing plans. Excel also allows the users to explore data that is integral for critical decision-making.
Free Mapping Application
While Excel spreadsheets are important for data visualization, another tool that is equally important is the mapping application. Microsoft Excel may be a powerful tool but it also has some limitations. For instance, it has limited styles for users to create graphics that can be very useful for individual analysis. People are still on the lookout to cross the borders of these limitations for more appropriate data visualization.
At last, online visualizations were introduced in the earlier part of this decade and among them, mapping applications proved to be very engaging. They paved the way for data to be clearly understood by many people. Since then, data viz has never been the same. By modern mapping applications, geography has never been so interesting. Maps are now considered to be a powerful tool where people can add multiple sets of data for analysis.
