Comments for »Me, myself and BI« http://blog.bissantz.com Bissantz ponders Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:04:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 Comment on Stacking is out by Jon Peltier http://blog.bissantz.com/stacking#comment-4575 Jon Peltier Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:10:41 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/stacking#comment-4575 "Our conclusion: Do away with stacked charts!" I avoid these when possible, but sometimes the client "knows best." One case in which stacking is still okay is in a box and whisker chart. I like your last chart and agree with your use of it. What would make it one bit better is the ability for the user to interactively sort by any of the columns. Perhaps by clicking on the column header. “Our conclusion: Do away with stacked charts!”

I avoid these when possible, but sometimes the client “knows best.” One case in which stacking is still okay is in a box and whisker chart.

I like your last chart and agree with your use of it. What would make it one bit better is the ability for the user to interactively sort by any of the columns. Perhaps by clicking on the column header.

]]> Comment on Graphic tables … simply breathtaking! by Dan http://blog.bissantz.com/graphic-tables#comment-4572 Dan Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:12:53 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/graphic-tables#comment-4572 Very interesting! What method did you use to accomplish the bars in the chart above? Very interesting! What method did you use to accomplish the bars in the chart above?

]]> Comment on Death to business charts! by Snigdha http://blog.bissantz.com/death-to-business-charts#comment-4570 Snigdha Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:21:30 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/death-to-business-charts#comment-4570 The animation is an interesting observation. Its something like - all this while we all knew it but couldn't articulate why we do not like to use Microsoft Excel to create the business charts. I create my own charts using Photoshop. Even I find PowerPoint provides me in much better options of utilizing the available space to communicate relevant and clutter free information. The animation is an interesting observation.
Its something like – all this while we all knew it but couldn’t articulate why we do not like to use Microsoft Excel to create the business charts. I create my own charts using Photoshop. Even I find PowerPoint provides me in much better options of utilizing the available space to communicate relevant and clutter free information.

]]> Comment on Traffic light charts – A black-or-white world (just in color) by Jon Peltier http://blog.bissantz.com/traffic-light-black-white#comment-4563 Jon Peltier Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:56:34 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/traffic-light-black-white#comment-4563 Nice post. I'll have to keep it for further reference. Nice post. I’ll have to keep it for further reference.

]]> Comment on Do companies need a Mission Control Center? by Malcolm http://blog.bissantz.com/astronauts#comment-4562 Malcolm Thu, 22 May 2008 16:48:09 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/astronauts#comment-4562 "All employees in my company are required to make detailed notes on who communicates with whom, when, where and how." What does this format look like? sincerely, Malcolm “All employees in my company are required to make detailed notes on who communicates with whom, when, where and how.”

What does this format look like?

sincerely,

Malcolm

]]> Comment on When making analogies, think digital by AdamV http://blog.bissantz.com/cup-porsche#comment-4561 AdamV Mon, 19 May 2008 11:13:45 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/cup-porsche#comment-4561 I disagree that digital is always better, analogue displays for reports have their place, and that is to do with comparisons between numbers. The human eye and brain can very easily assimilate several visual inputs and choose between them on a variety of criteria - the largest bar on a chart, the darkest colour, the smallest pie-slice and so on. Evolution has tuned us to select the biggest juiciest ripest-looking fruit, so our built-in pathways for doing this kind of evaluation is very well honed. The race car driver only needs to know his speed right now. If it was useful to compare to the speed at the same point on the last lap, or to his competitor's speed or an average or some other factor, an analogue display of some kind would probably be more useful. At a _very quick_ glance, which of these numbers is largest: 34, 59, 28, 71, 46 ? If you 'heard' the numbers as words and thought about their meaning (a fairly normal process called reading) this takes too long. A simple visual representation such as a bar chart would make the relationship between these figures clearer and the largest would jump out without even thinking about it. Dashboards (in the BI sense) should provide this kind of clear, unambiguous information with the least effort on the part of the reader. Actual detailed specific numbers are important, but in most business analysis the trends, comparisons and relationships between values is just as critical. I disagree that digital is always better, analogue displays for reports have their place, and that is to do with comparisons between numbers.
The human eye and brain can very easily assimilate several visual inputs and choose between them on a variety of criteria – the largest bar on a chart, the darkest colour, the smallest pie-slice and so on. Evolution has tuned us to select the biggest juiciest ripest-looking fruit, so our built-in pathways for doing this kind of evaluation is very well honed.
The race car driver only needs to know his speed right now. If it was useful to compare to the speed at the same point on the last lap, or to his competitor’s speed or an average or some other factor, an analogue display of some kind would probably be more useful.
At a _very quick_ glance, which of these numbers is largest:
34, 59, 28, 71, 46 ?
If you ‘heard’ the numbers as words and thought about their meaning (a fairly normal process called reading) this takes too long.
A simple visual representation such as a bar chart would make the relationship between these figures clearer and the largest would jump out without even thinking about it.
Dashboards (in the BI sense) should provide this kind of clear, unambiguous information with the least effort on the part of the reader. Actual detailed specific numbers are important, but in most business analysis the trends, comparisons and relationships between values is just as critical.

]]> Comment on BI, Robot by Stephen Hampshire http://blog.bissantz.com/bi-robot#comment-4558 Stephen Hampshire Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:30:18 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/bi-robot#comment-4558 Good point Nicholas - the difficult bit of automation is always getting people to explain the heuristics they use to make decisions. Turning the fuzzy parallel processing of human cognition into a simple linear algorithm isn't always easy! But what do we do when people don't know the basis on which their decisions are made? We could train a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network" rel="nofollow">neural network</a> to replicate their decisions, I suspect, but would we ever trust a "robot" if we didn't know the rules it was using? Good point Nicholas – the difficult bit of automation is always getting people to explain the heuristics they use to make decisions. Turning the fuzzy parallel processing of human cognition into a simple linear algorithm isn’t always easy!

But what do we do when people don’t know the basis on which their decisions are made? We could train a neural network to replicate their decisions, I suspect, but would we ever trust a “robot” if we didn’t know the rules it was using?

]]> Comment on Above all else, show the data by Stephen Hampshire http://blog.bissantz.com/show-data#comment-4556 Stephen Hampshire Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:32:56 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/show-data#comment-4556 Excellent post, and very nicely illustrated too. Have you heard the joke about the statistician who drowned in a pool with an average depth of 2cm? Excellent post, and very nicely illustrated too.

Have you heard the joke about the statistician who drowned in a pool with an average depth of 2cm?

]]> Comment on Above all else, show the data by Jon Peltier http://blog.bissantz.com/show-data#comment-4554 Jon Peltier Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:50:20 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/show-data#comment-4554 "Facts, for example, are rare in today’s information age." Unfortunately, so true. I like your chart, and the philosophy behind it (Show The Data). “Facts, for example, are rare in today’s information age.”

Unfortunately, so true.

I like your chart, and the philosophy behind it (Show The Data).

]]> Comment on Ivy League Rock and Roll – A day with Edward Tufte by * antenna-flog » Blog Archive » Visual Explanations http://blog.bissantz.com/a-day-with-tufte#comment-4553 * antenna-flog » Blog Archive » Visual Explanations Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:24:00 +0000 http://blog.bissantz.com/a-day-with-tufte#comment-4553 [...] edwardtufte.com | wpedia | The Data Artist | A Day with Tufte [...] […] edwardtufte.com | wpedia | The Data Artist | A Day with Tufte […]

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