Tools for visualizing data are a great ally in data strategies, but they require literacy to avoid biases and traps.

According to a study by the Capgemini Research Institute, the 50% of companies globally are already data driven, while in Spain that number climbs to 30%. With the digital transformation in full swing and big data as the main protagonist, there are great opportunities to convert this enormous source of available information into competitive differential potential for the business.

One of the best ways to get juice from those large volumes They are data visualization tools. Due to the way the brain works, the use of diagrams, charts or graphs makes it easier to understand large amounts of complex data than, for example, spreadsheets or other types of reports.

The cognitive impact of the visual means that colors, shapes and patterns attract attention more quickly, are more efficient for decoding and we internalize them better. In this way, we distinguish trends and/or atypical indicators with much more precision.

Data visualization thus becomes an agile, fast, simple way to transmit concepts and allows you to “play” with different scenarios with just small adjustments. A good data visualization is a tool that allows you to identify at first glance areas for improvement, factors that modify certain variables, prediction of situations, comparisons, among other benefits.

Now I would like to stop at this point to point out that as Darrell Huff already explained in his classic and famous “How to Lie with Statistics”, there are “multiple ways to torture data until you force it to confess what you want to hear”, and this is well worth it. for viewing.

While companies, businesses, and advertisers understand the enormous power of visualizing numbers and statistics, unfortunately they also There are ways to use them to create biased results and interpretations: The bias may be in the type of graph chosen, in the way the axes are constructed or in the questions that guide the construction of the visualization itself. If any of them change, the interpretation of them can also change – in their entirety – and therein lies their potential danger.

To quote Huff again: “Thieves already know these tricks, honest men must learn them in self-defense.” What does this tell us? The point is to be able to discover what those traps are before interpreting a data visualization and, especially, before using those inputs for our business strategy.

An effective data visualization must balance form and function and – as I explained above – when I talk about form, I mean stopping at the framework and construction context of all that visualization before drawing advance conclusions from what is expressed there. Data and visual elements must work together and in their conjunction there is a central point that must guide the analysis.

I would also like to add that being able to understand and read data visualizations It is today a skill that entrepreneurs, team leaders and business decision-makers must manage. There are many tools and also the material available and the experts who can shed light on how to address this very important part of a data strategy.
We are in a moment where the amount of data and its weight in the business is clearly increasing and with it, a need for what is called “data literacy.”

The importance of data education is growing around the world for the simple fact that Those who are better trained in how to understand these volumes of information will be in the best position to create and consolidate strategies that benefit companies and clients.

 Julio Cesar Blanco – May 9, 2022