Chris Seybold – Gemini Data https://www.geminidata.com Wed, 04 Oct 2023 17:12:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 Why does your business need data storytelling? https://www.geminidata.com/data-storytelling/ Thu, 17 Jun 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.geminidata.com/data-storytelling/ We live in a world of data. How many patients a medical practice saw in one month, how many power outages a city experienced, or how much money a government agency is spending are all examples of information gleaned from data. Data always has a story to tell, but do you know how to tell that story in a way that can inform your business’s strategy or solve problems?

When you’re looking at the health of your company, everything might look like it’s going according to plan. As long as you and your employees stick to it, sales and profits will continue to increase. But, this is a pitfall that many companies fall into —judging their business by how it is functioning on the surface instead of analyzing the data that can give a more accurate picture. However, data analysis is only the first step. You have to understand what the data is telling you and find an accessible and memorable way to tell the story to your employees and other stakeholders.

Curious to know how data storytelling could benefit you? Keep reading for three ways it can help your business work smarter.

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We live in a world of data. How many patients a medical practice saw in one month, how many power outages a city experienced, or how much money a government agency is spending are all examples of information gleaned from data. Data always has a story to tell, but do you know how to tell that story in a way that can inform your business’s strategy or solve problems?

When you’re looking at the health of your company, everything might look like it’s going according to plan. As long as you and your employees stick to it, sales and profits will continue to increase. But, this is a pitfall that many companies fall into —judging their business by how it is functioning on the surface instead of analyzing the data that can give a more accurate picture. However, data analysis is only the first step. You have to understand what the data is telling you and find an accessible and memorable way to tell the story to your employees and other stakeholders.

Curious to know how data storytelling could benefit you? Keep reading for three ways it can help your business work smarter.

What Is Data Storytelling?

At its core, data storytelling is the conversion of raw data and computations to an understandable layout that would help others comprehend their meaning and significance.

One simple example of this is if you were the owner of a fast food restaurant and you were curious to know which burger your customers ordered the most. Is it the chicken sandwich or the traditional beef patty? Based on your monthly sales’ raw data, the numbers could be converted to a pie chart where you could see which “piece” of the pie is bigger, giving you a general idea of your customer’s burger preference.

How Can Businesses Use Data Storytelling?

There are many ways that data storytelling can be used to help inform strategies and make decisions. While use cases may vary depending on the industry, here are a few ways businesses can use data storytelling to their advantage:

Problem Solving

Raw data can be confusing to navigate and understand as a whole to individuals without a data analyst background. But with data storytelling, these raw data can be turned into easily understandable visuals, which could convey the solution to a problem your team has been facing. A bank’s data analyst, for example, may use data storytelling to consolidate data and discover a more viable solution to an overall work process. Additionally, they’ll be able to easily communicate the solution with their colleagues without spending time explaining rows and rows of data.

Understand Employee Trends

Data storytelling can help a business understand how employees are behaving at work, and the tools and platforms they’re using (or not using). A  good understanding of what is helping employees with their jobs allows a business to make smarter choices of what to invest in and what to stop doing. For example, a communications professional could collect data on how many employees are using the company intranet and use storytelling to determine if they should invest in upgrades to the platform or find a new way of communicating with staff.

Detect Fraudulent Activities

Data storytelling could work as an autonomous whistleblower against fraudulent activities in your company. Using raw data, storytelling could help uncover trends and patterns that raise red flags of fraudulent activity and help the average employee understand it. A healthcare company’s fraud department, for example, could use this to detect a false claim or misuse of information without having to spend the time and money to hire an analyst.

Conclusion

Data storytelling is a must-have for businesses today. Not only can it help with turning complex numbers into comprehensible visuals, it can also inform progress toward your business goals with evidence-based strategizing and decision making.

If you are looking for an analytics consulting firm to help with your business’s data storytelling for you, look no further than Gemini Data. We can help bring ample context and commentary to your data so you can fully appreciate and understand insights.

]]> The Pros and Cons of Data Visualization https://www.geminidata.com/pros-and-cons-of-data-viz/ Tue, 15 Jun 2021 18:08:46 +0000 https://www.geminidata.com/pros-and-cons-of-data-viz/ Data visualization, also known as “data viz,” has become an integral part of how businesses operate, communicate with employees, and make decisions. It’s a communications tool that allows for complex ideas and relationships to be presented and understood in a simple format. Charts, graphs, pictures, and maps are all examples of data visualization that most of us are familiar with.

While data visualization can help distill complex data, it can also oversimplify information which can create challenges in decision-making. Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of data visualization so you can be sure your business fully understands how to use it effectively.

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Data visualization has become an integral part of how businesses operate, communicate with employees, and make decisions. It’s a communications tool that allows for complex ideas and relationships to be presented and understood in a simple format. Charts, graphs, pictures, and maps are all examples of data visualization that most of us are familiar with.

While data visualization can help distill complex data, it can also oversimplify information which can create challenges in decision-making. Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of data visualization so you can be sure your business fully understands how to use it effectively.

The Pros of Data Visualization

There are many benefits that data visualization can bring to a business, including:

Simplified communication

Data visualization makes information easier to comprehend by expressing it visually and demonstrating relationships between data points. The use of colors, labels, and other images makes it easier for the human brain to process and remember information, leading to a deeper understanding of the story being told. Additionally, adding graphic elements that are specific to your business can make data more relevant and motivate employees to do their job better.

Attention-grabbing

Through data visualization, you can quickly and easily gain the attention of your audience and help them remember what they’re seeing. While data analysts are good at reading and understanding numbers, there are many people who don’t feel comfortable with numerical analysis and interpretation and you could overwhelm them with data sets and charts. Data visualization allows you to reach a wider audience – whether it’s your employees or customers – and take them on a journey with your data. And, with eye-catching imagery, your audience is much likelier to remember what you shared with them.

Increased credibility

How you communicate a message impacts the way a reader interprets information. While throwing numbers and statistics at a person can demonstrate your business’s savvy and expertise, it can also overwhelm them and leave them confused. But data visualization shows your audience that not only is your business a subject matter expert, but that you also understand your audience’s needs and know how to present meaningful data to convey your message.

The Cons  of Data Visualization

All tools come with shortcomings, and data viz is no exception. Here are a few examples of where it could fall short:

False correlations 

Making correlations in your data can be critical to decision-making and strategy setting, but they  can also make people see false relationships. Depending on the integrity of your data, along with the person interpreting the data, visualizations can inaccurately show how different variables behave in relationship to one another. This can result in false relationships among data being identified, leading to inaccurate assumptions and conclusions.

Axes Make the Difference

The size and number of axes in a data visualization such as a graph or chart can easily change how data is interpreted. At first glance, the size of an axis can cause viewers to assume a more extreme change or value than there is. Additionally, dual axes can trick a reader into believing two variables are calculated on the same base unit, even if they’re not.

Average Is Not the Best Statistic

The average of a list of data is not the best statistic since outliers can skew the data in one direction or another. Most data sets that are unrelated to time follow a normal distribution, but many data sets deviate from the standard bell curve to a minimal degree at the very least. Therefore, it’s crucial to always look for the mean and median in data visualization. If you see a big difference, that means the visualization may not be representative.

Conclusion

Just like any approach or tool in business, data visualization has pros and cons that are important to understand so you can get the best out of it while mitigating any challenges. But, it can be overwhelming to take this on without a partner that has industry expertise and the knowledge to effectively use data visualization.

[Get the most out of graph with our no-code platform built for everyone. Schedule a call or start your free trial of Gemini Explore today!]

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