presented by katherine fraser visualizing data using microsoft power view

Presented by Katherine Fraser

VISUALIZING DATA USING MICROSOFT POWER VIEW

I. What is data visualization?

II. Examples of data visualization

III. Single variable vs. multivariate data

IV. Types of data visualizations

V. Tools used to visualize information

VI. Demos using Excel Power View

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

Data Visualization is the effort to make information easily perceptible by humans, enabling insight.Half of the human brain is devoted to processing visual information.Information Design: the practice of presenting information in a way

that fosters efficient and effective understanding of it, specifically for graphic design for displaying information effectively (Wikipedia)

Using pictures, symbols, colors, and words to communicate ideas, illustrate information or express relationships visually.... add seeing to reading to make complex data easier to understand (John Emerson, backspace.com)

Edward Tufte: concepts of graphic excellence and chartjunk

DATA VISUALIZATION

1. Show quantitative comparisons

2. Show causality/explanation by placing the data in an appropriate context (not time series)

3. Use multivariate analysis

4. Integrate evidence: words, numbers, images, diagrams

5. Document your source to provide credibility

6. Have content. Analytical presentations stand or fall based on their content.

EDWARD TUFTE: SIX FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ANALYTICAL DESIGN

BAR CHARTS: SINGLE VARIABLE DATA

SCATTER PLOT: MULTIVARIATE DATA

Charts Bar charts and column charts Line charts Scatter plot

SparklinesPie charts

To use or not to use? Data-ink ratio

Small multiplesMapsTreemaps

TYPES OF DATA VISUALIZATION

Bar charts can be vertical or horizontal, may be stacked

Graphics should tend toward the horizontal, i.e., be greater in length than in height; Left-to-right comprehension

Horizon analogyEase of labelingEmphasis on causal influenceBullet graphs (vs. gauges)

BAR CHARTS

BAR CHARTS

Stephanie Evergreen & Gavin McMahon, http://makeapowerfulpoint.com/

HORIZONTAL STACKED BAR CHART

CLUSTERED BAR CHARTS

Stephanie Evergreen & Gavin McMahon, http://makeapowerfulpoint.com/

LINE CHARTS: COMPARING DATA

Consists of complex ideas communicated with clarity, precision, and efficiency. “Graphical elegance is often found in simplicity of design and complexity of data.”

Gives the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space (data-ink ratio)

Is nearly always multivariateRequires telling the truth about the data

EDWARD TUFTE: GRAPHICAL EXCELLENCE

NON-DATA INK

SMALL, NON-COMPARATIVE DATA

Data Availability Policies:What do authors have to provide?

Descriptions 65.5%

Programs 62.1%

Code 51.7%

Datasets 89.7%

CHARTJUNK

Small, high-resolution graphics usually embedded in a full context of words, numbers, images.

Shows recent changes in relation to many past changes (context) and reduces recency bias

EDWARD TUFTE: SPARKLINES

EXCEL 2013

New FeaturesQuick Analysis—options for analyzing data

such as totals and sparklinesRecommended charts—subset of chart

types appropriate to the data selectedChart Tools—Design and Layout tabsPivot tables—good for aggregations Power View—data visualization tool

Tufte, “Given their low data-density and failure to order numbers along a visual dimension, pie charts should never be used.”

Jen Underwood, “Most often, pie charts are misused to communicate part-to-whole scenarios where line or bar charts would be much more effective.”

Pie charts are intended to display proportions of a whole within a single, small data set. Although humans are good at comparing linear distances along a scale—like bar graphs—pie charts don’t bring those skills to bear. We tend to underestimate acute angles, overestimate obtuse angles, and take horizontally bisected angles as much larger than their vertical counterparts.

PIE CHARTS

An analog visual image is easier to process rapidly than is a number; one is mentally processed as an image and the other as text.

The basic rule is that a digital display works best when a value with high precision is required, while analog works best when rate-of-change or relationship to a limit is required.

Work with control-panel operations: people who had to read digital gauges had a harder time keeping a clear image of the overall situation. They knew the individual values, but had a much lower sense of how the overall system was performing.

A good design must minimize mental transformation or calculations, such as calculating how close a reading is to the high or low value.

Taken from Professional Wri t ing course “Technical Edit ing and Production”, Michael J. Albers, East Carol ina Universi ty

ANALOG VS. DIGITAL

HOW MUCH TIME HAS ELAPSED

NOT A PIE CHART

Same graphical structure repeatedInherently multivariate and inevitably comparativeConstancy of design helps user focus on changes in

dataDo work adjacent in space not serial in time (spread

over multiple pages)

EDWARD TUFTE: SMALL MULTIPLES

Use geographic data to compare a variable across a mapExamples: unemployment rate by state or the number of persons

on the various floors of a building

MAPS

A choropleth map has shaded or patterned areas in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed, such as population density or per-capita income.

Invented by researcher Ben Shneiderman in 1991Multiple boxes concentrically nested inside of each otherThe area of a given box represents the quantity it representsA treemap is a compact and intuitive interface for mapping an

entity and its constituent parts

TREEMAPS

Data visualizations require more work by a user in order to find patterns and insight; more complex and involve analysis.

Infographics are a quick and popular way of communicating that insight; fast, timely, with the aim of presenting information rather than analyzing it too deeply.

Three parts of all infographics1. The visual consists of colors and graphics. “Theme” graphics

represent the data and “reference” graphics point to additional data.

2. Statistics and facts usually serve as the content for infographics.

3. Infographics should provide insight into the data that they are presenting.

Tools: Visual.ly, Photoshop

INFOGRAPHICS

Examples: Food Safety Fracking Healthcare literacy Weather forecast

INFOGRAPHICS

DATA VISUALIZATION TOOLS

Formatted, printable reports vs. ad hoc, data discovery toolsStatic reports: good for embedding in presentations or web pages

Miscrosoft SSRS (Reporting Services) Crystal Reports High Charts

Data discovery: fewer formatting options, allows for on-the-fly data analysis Tableau Excel Power View SAP Lumira D3 (open source) http://d3js.org/

Why get data visualization software? If you already have an OLAP or Big Data source, or a managed BI data source and you need a specialized tool or if you have data simple enough to analyze directly

Features delivered via ExcelPower Query

“Data Discovery and Access” SSIS (ETL tool)

Power Pivot “Modeling and Analysis” SSAS (in-memory storage)

Power View and Power Map “Visualization” SSRS Power View requires ProPlus version

MICROSOFT POWER BI

EXCEL POWER VIEW: DEMO

Excel demoPower Query to import dataPowerPivot to store dataPower View to visualize dataTiles/CardsScatterplot

EXCEL POWER VIEW: DEMO

Excel demoPower View to visualize dataMatrix view, small multiplesScatterplotMap

Edward Tufte “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information”David McCandless, informationisbeautiful.netJer Thorp, Data Artist for NY Times, TED Talk @blprntJen Stirrup, Microsoft MVP @jenstirrupNaomi Robbins “Creating More Effective Graphs”Alberto Cairo, theFunctionalArt.comStephen Few, dashboard designNathan Yau, flowingdata.comdatajournalismhandbook.orgvizualize.tumblr.com

DATA VISUALIZATION PEOPLE

Katherine Fraserfraserk@gmail.com@sqlsassy

THANK YOU!