Unit 3: Data Visualization

Overview:
Decades of research studies in psychology and other fields show that the human mind
can process visual images such as charts much faster than it can interpret rows of numbers.
However, these same studies also show that the human mind has certain limitations in its ability
to interpret visual images and that some images are better at conveying information than others.
The goal of this chapter is to introduce some of the most common forms of visualizing data and
demonstrate when these forms are appropriate.

Microsoft Excel is a ubiquitous tool in business for basic data visualization. Software tools
such as Excel make it easy for anyone to create many standard examples of data visualization.
However, as discussed in this chapter, the default settings for tables and charts created with Excel
can be altered to increase clarity. New types of software that are dedicated to data visualization
have appeared recently. We focus our techniques on Excel in this chapter, but we also mention
some of these more advanced software packages for specific data visualization uses.

Data Visualization refers to the graphic representation of data. It involves producing

images that communicate relationships among the represented data to viewers of the images. It
is the representation of information in the form of chart, diagram, table, pictures, and etc.

One of the most helpful ideas for creating effective tables and charts for data visualization
is the idea of the data-ink ratio, first described by Edward R. Tufte in 2001 in his book the Visual
display of Quantitative information. The data-ink ratio measures the proportion of what Tufte terms
―data-ink‖ to the total amount of ink used in a table or chart. Data-ink is the ink used in a table or
chart that is necessary to convey the meaning of the data to the audience. Non-data-ink is ink
used in a table or chart that serves no useful purpose in conveying the data to the audience.

Learning Outcomes:
After successful Completion of this module, you should be able to:
• Create commonly used charts in visualizing a data

• Identify the difference between Scatter Chart/Plot and Line Chart

• Discuss data visualization and its importance when making data such as big data

Course Materials:
Effective Design Technique
• Data-ink Ratio - measures the proportion of the total amount of ink used in a table or
chart.
• Data-ink is the ink used in a table or chart that is necessary to convey the meaning of the
data to the audience. Non-data-ink is used in a table or chart that serves no useful
purpose in conveying the data to the audience.

FUNDAMENTALS OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS (BUMA 30063) 37

 Data-ink Ratio Table

Table 3.1 and Figure 3.3represents the Gossamer industries, a firm that produces silk
clothing products. Gossamer is interested in tracking the sales of one of its most popular items, a
particular style of women’s scarf. Table 3.1 and Figure 3.3 provide examples of a table and chart
with low data-ink ratios used to display sales of this style of women’s scarf. The data used in this
table represent product sales by day.

In Table 3.1 most of the grid lines serve no useful purpose. Likewise, in Figure 3.3, the
horizontal lines in the chart also add little additional information. In both cases, most of these lines
can be deleted without reducing the information conveyed. However, an important piece of
information is missing from Figure 3.3; label for axes. Axes should always be labeled in a chart
unless both the meaning and unit of measure are obvious.

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 Table 3.2 shows a modified table in which all grid lines have been deleted except for those
around the title of the table. Deleting the grid lines in Table 3.1 increases the date-ink ratio
because a larger proportion of the ink used in the table is used to convey the information (the
actual numbers). Similarly, deleting the unnecessary horizontal lines in Figure 3.4 increase the
data-ink ratio. Note that deleting these horizontal lines and removing (or reducing the size of) the
markers at each data point make it more difficult to determine the exact values plotted in the chart.
However, a simple chart is not the most effective way of presenting data when the audience needs
to know exact values. In this case, it is better to use a table.

Tables
The first decision in displaying data is whether table or chart will be more effective. In general,
charts can often convey information faster and easier for readers, but in some cases a table is
more appropriate. It should be used when:
a. The reader needs to refer to specific numerical values.
b. The reader needs to make precise comparisons between different values and not just
relative comparisons.
c. The values being displayed have different units or very different magnitudes.

Table Design Principle

In designing an effective table, keep in mind the data-ink ratio and avoid the use of
unnecessary ink in tables. In general, this means that we should avoid using vertical lines in a
table unless they are necessary for clarity. Horizontal lines are generally necessary only for
separating column titles from data values or when indicating that a calculation has taken place.
Consider Figure 3.7, which compares several forms of a table displaying Gossamer’s costs and
revenue data. Most people find Design D, with the fewest grid lines and easiest to read. In this
table, grid lines are used only to separate the column headings from the data to indicate that a
calculation has occurred to generate the Profits row and the Total column. In large tables,

FUNDAMENTALS OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS (BUMA 30063) 39

 vertical lines of light shading can be useful to help the reader differentiate the columns and
rows.

Crosstabulation
A useful type of table for describing data of two variable is a crosstabulation, which
provides a tabular summary of data for two variables. To illustrate consider the following
application based on data of Fastfood Review. Data on the quality rating, meal price, and the
usual wait time for a table during peak hours were collected for a sample of 25 fastfood chain
located in Sampaloc Manila.

FIGURE 1 QUALITY RATING AND MEAL PRICE FOR 25 FASTFOOD CHAINS LOCATED IN
SAMPALOC MANILA

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 FIGURE 2 CROSSTABULATION OF QUALITY RATING AND MEAL PRICE FOR 25
FASTFOOD CHAINS LOCATED IN SAMPALOC MANILA

PivotTables in Excel
A crosstabulation in Microsoft Excel is known as a PivotTable. We will first look at a simple
example of how Excel’s PivotTable is used to create a cross tabulation of the data shown
previously. Figure 3 illustrates the data contained in the file Fastfood Data; the data for the 25
Fastfood chains in the sample have been entered into cells B2:D26.

FIGURE 3 EXCEL WORKSHEET CONTAINING FASTFOOD DATA

To create a PivotTable in Excel, we follow these steps:

Step1. Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon

Step2. Click the PivotTable in the Tables group
Step3. When the Create PivotTable dialog box appears:
Choose Select aTable or Range
Enter A1:D26 in the Table/Range: box
Select New Worksheet as the location for the PivotTable Report
Click OK

Step 4. In the PivotTable Fields area, go to Drag fields between areas below:

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 Drag the Quality Ratingfield to the ROWS area
Drag the Meal Price (php) field to the COLUMNS area
Drag the Restaurant field to the VALUES area

Step 5. Click on Sum of Fastfoodin the VALUES area

Step 6. Select Value Field Settings from the list of options
Step 7. When the Value Field Settings dialogue box appears:
Under Summarize value field by, select Count
Click OK

FIGURE 4 COMPLETED PIVOTTABLE FIELD LIST AND A PORTION OF THE PIVOTTABLE

REPORT FOR THE FASTFOOD DATA (COLUMNS H:AK ARE HIDDEN)

To complete the PivotTable, we need to group the columns representing meal prices and place
the row labels for quality rating in the proper order:

Step 8. Right-click in cell B4 or any cell containing a meal price column label
Step 9. Select Group from the list of options
Step 10. When the Grouping dialog box appears:

Enter 49 in the Starting at: box

Enter 150 in the Ending at: box
Enter 10 in the By at: box
Click OK

Step 11. Right-click on ―Excellent‖ in cell A5

Step 12. Select Move and click Move “Excellent” to End

FIGURE 5 FINAL PIVOTTABLE REPORT FOR THE FASTFOOD DATA

We can also use a PivotTable to create percent frequency distributions, as shown in the
following steps:

Step 1. Click the Count of Fastfood in the VALUES area

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 Step 2. Select Value Field Settings… from the list of options
Step 3. When the Value Field Settings dialog box appears, click the tab for Show
Value As
Step 4. In the Show values as area, select % of Grand Total from the drop down menu.
Click OK

FIGURE 6 PERCENT FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AS A PIVOTTABLE FOR THE

FASTFOOD DATA

As an illustration, we can easily modify the PivotTable in Figure 5 to display summary

information on wait times instead of meal prices.
Step 1. Click the Count of Fastfoodfield in the VALUES area
Select Remove Field
Step 2. Drag the Wait Time(min) to the VALUES area
Step 3. Click on Sum of Wait Time (min) in the VALUES area
Step 4. Select Value Field Settings… from the list of options
Step 5. When the Value Field Settings dialogue box appears:
Under Summarize value field by, select Average
Click Number Format
In the Category: area, select Number
Enter 1 for Decimal places:
Click OK
When the Value Field Settings dialog box reappears, click OK

FIGURE 7 PIVOTTABLE REPORT FOR THE FASTFOOD DATA WITH AVERAGE WAIT
TIMES ADDED

Charts

Charts or graphs are visual methods of displaying data.

SOME OF THE MOST COMMONLY USED CHARTS TO DISPLAY AND ANALYZE DATA

1. Scatter Charts- is a graphical presentation of the relationship between two quantitative

variables. Example: Consider the advertising/sales relationship for an electronics store in San

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 Francisco. On ten occasions during the past three months, the store used weekend television
commercials to promote sales at its stores. The managers want to investigate whether a
relationship exists between the number of commercials shown and sales at the store the following
week.46

TABLE 1.1 SAMPLE DATA FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO ELECTRONICS STORE

STEPS IN CREATING SCATTER CHARTS USING EXCEL

Step 1. Select cells B2:C11

Step 2. Click the INSERT tab in the Ribbon.Step 3. Click the Insert Scatter (X,Y) or Bubble
Chart button in the Charts group.
Step 4. When the list of scatter chart subtypes appears, click the Scatter button.Step 5. Click the
DESIGN tab under the Chart Tools Ribbon.
Step 6. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group. Select Chart Title, and
click Above Chart. Click on the text box above the chart, and replace the text with
Scatter Chart for the
San Francisco electronics Store.Step 7. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts
group. Select Axis Title, and click Primary Vertical. Click on the text box under
the horizontal axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with number of
Commercials.Step 8. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group. Select
Axis Title, and click Primary Horizontal. Click on the text box next to the vertical
axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with Sales ($100s)
Step 9. Right-click on the one of the horizontal grid lines in the body of the chart, and click
Delete.
Step 10. Right-click on the one of the vertical grid lines in the body of the chart, and click Delete.
Using Excel, we can add Trendline to the scatter chart

• Trendline- a line that provides an approximation of the relationship between the variables.

STEPS IN ADDING LINEAR TRENDLINE USING EXCEL

Step 1. Right-click on one of the data points in the scatter chart, and select Add Trendline…
Step 2.When the Format Trendline task pane appears, select Linear under TRENDLINE
OPTIONS.

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 TABLE 1.2 SCATTER CHART FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO ELECTRONICS STORE

2. Line Charts- similar to scatter charts but a line connects the points in the chart.
Example: Kirkland Industries sells air compressors to manufacturing companies.47

TABLE 2.1 MONTHLY SALES DATA OF AIR COMPRESSORS AT KIRKLAND INDUSTRIES

STEPS IN CREATING LINE CHARTS

Step 1. Select cells A2:B13

Step 2. Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon
Step 3. Click the Insert Line Chart button in the Charts group
Step 4. When the list of line chart subtypes appears, click the Line with Markers button under 2
D Line

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 This creates a line chart for sales with a basic layout and minimum formatting
Step 5. Select the line chart that was just created to reveal the CHART TOOLS Ribbon
Click the DESIGN tab under the CHART TOOLS Ribbon
Step 6. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Select Axis Title from the drop-down menu
Click Primary Vertical
Click on the text box next to the vertical axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with Sales ($100s)
Step 7. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Select Chart Title from the drop-down menu
Click Above Chart
Click on the text box above the chart, and replace ―Chart Title‖ with line Chart for
Monthly Sales data
Step 8. Right-click on one of the horizontal lines in the chart, and click Delete

TABLE 2.2 LINE CHARTS OF REGIONAL SALES DATA AT KIRKLAND INDUSTRIES

a. Sparkline- it is a special type of line chart which is a minimalist type of line chart that can
be placed directly into a cell in Excel.
- Sparklines contain no axes; they display only the line for the data.

STEPS IN CREATING SPARKLINE

Step 1. Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon

Step 2. Click Line in the Sparklines group
Step 3. When the Create Sparklines dialog box opens,
Enter B3:B14 in the Data Range: box
Enter B15 in the Location Range: box
Click OK
Step 4. Copy cell B15 to cell C15

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 TABLE 2.3 SPARKLINES FOR THE REGIONAL SALES DATA AT KIRKLAND INDUSTRIES

3. Bar Charts and Column Charts- provide a graphical summary of categorical data.
• Bar Charts- use horizontal bars to display the magnitude of the quantitative variable.
• Column Charts- use vertical bars to display the magnitude of the quantitative variable.

Example: The regional supervisor who wants to examine the number of accounts being handled
by each manager.

STEPS IN CREATING BAR CHART

Step 1. Select cells A2:B9

Step 2. Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon
Step 3. Click the Insert Bar Chart button in the Charts group
Step 4. When the list of bar chart subtypes appears:
Click the Clustered Bar button in the 2-D Bar section
Step 5. Select the bar chart that was just created to reveal the CHART TOOLS ribbon
Click the DESIGN tab under the CHART TOOLS Ribbon
Step 6. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Select Axis Title from the drop-down menu
Click Primary Horizontal
Click on the text box next to the vertical axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with accounts
Managed
Step 7. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Select Axis Title from the drop-down menu
Click Primary Vertical
Click on the text box next to the vertical axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with Manager
Step 8. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Select Chart Title from the drop-down menu
Click Above Chart
Click on the text box above the chart, and replace ―Chart Title‖ with
Bar Chart of accounts Managed
Step 9. Right-click on one of the vertical lines in the chart, and click Delete

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 TABLE 3.1 BAR CHARTS FOR ACCOUNTS MANAGED DATA

STEPS IN ORDERING THE RESULTS IN BAR CHARTS

Step 1. Select cells A1:B9

Step 2. Right-click any of the cells A1:B9
Choose Sort
Click Custom Sort
Step 3. When the Sort dialog box appears:
Make sure that the check box for My data has headers is checked
Choose Accounts Managed in the Sort by box under Column
Choose Smallest to Largest under Order
Click OK

TABLE 3.2 SORTED BAR CHART FOR ACCOUNTS MANAGED DATA

4. Bubble Charts- a graphical means of visualizing three variables in a two-dimensional graph.

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 Example: Suppose that we want to compare the number of billionaires in various countries. Table
4.1 provides a sample of six countries, showing, for each country, the number of billionaires per
10 million residents, the per capita income, and the total number of billionaires.

TABLE 4.1 SAMPLE DATA ON BILLIONAIRES PER COUNTRY

STEPS IN CREATING BUBBLE CHARTS

Step 1. Select cells B2:D7

Step 2. Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon
Step 3. In the Charts group, click Insert Scatter (X,Y) or Bubble Chart button
In the Bubble subgroup, click the Bubble button
Step 4. Select the chart that was just created to reveal the CHART TOOLS ribbon
Click the DESIGN tab under the CHART TOOLS Ribbon
Step 5. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Choose Axis Title from the drop-down menu
Click Primary Horizontal
Click on the text box under the horizontal axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with Billionaires
per 10 Million residents
Step 6. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Choose Axis Title from the drop-down menu
Click Primary Vertical
Click on the text box next to the vertical axis, and replace ―Axis Title‖ with Per Capita
income
Step 7. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Choose Chart Title from the drop-down menu
Click Above Chart
Click on the text box above the chart, and replace ―Chart Title‖ with Billionaires by
Country
Step 8. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Choose Gridlines from the drop-down menu
Deselect Primary Major Horizontal and Primary Major Vertical to remove the gridlines
from the bubble chart
Step 9. Click Add Chart Element in the Chart Layouts group
Choose Data Labels from the drop-down menu
Click More Data Label Options . . .
Step 10. Click the Label Options icon
Under LABEL OPTIONS, select Value from Cells, and click the
Select Range button

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 Step 11. When the Data Label Range dialog box opens, select cells A2:A7 in the Worksheet.
This will enter the value ―5SheetName!$A$2:$A$7‖ into the Select Data Label Range
box where ―SheetName‖ is the name of the active Worksheet
Click OK
Step 12. In the Format Data Labels task pane, deselect Y Value in the LABEL OPTIONS area,
and select Right under Label Position

TABLE 4.2 BUBBLE CHART COMPARING BILLIONAIRES BY COUNTRY

5. Heat Maps
A heat map is a graphical representation of data where the individual values contained
in a matrix are represented as colors.

Figure 3.24 shows a heat map indicating the magnitude of changes for a metric called
samestore sales, which are commonly used in the retail industry to measure trends in sales.

Shade Red – declining same-store sales for the month

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 Shade Blue – increasing same-store sales for the month
Column N – sparklines for the same-store sales data

Heat maps depend strongly on the use of color to convey information, one must be careful
to make sure that the colors can be easily differentiated and that they do not become
overwhelming.

ADDITIONAL CHARTS FOR MULTIPLE VARIABLES

1. Stacked Column Chart
A stacked column chart is a basic Excel chart type to allow part-to-whole comparisons
over time, or across categories. In a stacked column chart, data series are stacked one on top of
the other in vertical columns. Stacked column charts can show change over time because it's
easy to compare total column lengths.

Figure 3.25 provides an alternative display for the regional sales data of air compressors
for Kirkland Industries. The figure uses a stacked column chart to display the North and the South
regional sales data.

Stacked column and bar charts allow the reader to compare the relative values of
quantitative variables for the same category in a bar chart. However, stacked column and bar
charts suffer from the same difficulties as pie charts because the human eye has difficulty
perceiving small differences in areas.

An alternative chart for these same data is called a clustered column (or bar) chart.
Clustered column and bar charts are often superior to stacked column and bar chart for
comparing quantitative variables but they can become cluttered for more than a few quantitative
variables per category.

An alternative that is often preferred to both stacked and clustered charts, particularly
when many quantitative variables need to be displayed, is to use multiple charts.

Figure 3.26 compares the stacked, clustered and multiple bar chart approaches for the regional
sales data.

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 An especially useful chart for displaying multiple variables is the scatter chart matrix.

Table 3.12 contains a partial listing of the data for each of New York City’s 55 sub boroughs
on monthly median rent, percentage of college graduates, poverty rate, and mean travel time to
work. Suppose we want to examine the relationship between these different categorical variables.

Figure 3.27 displays a scatter chart matrix (scatter plot matrix) for data related to rentals in New
York City.

A scatter chart matrix allows the readers to easily see the relationships among multiple
variables, unfortunately, it is not possible to generate a scatter chart matrix using native excel
functionality.

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 PivotCharts in Excel

To summarize and analyze data with both a crosstabulation and charting, Excel pairs
PivotCharts with PivotTables.

To create a PivotCharts in Excel, we need to follow these steps:

Step 1. Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon

Step 2. In the Charts group, choose PivotChart
Step 3. When the Create PivotChart dialog box appears:
Choose Select a Table or Range
Enter A1:D26 in the Table/Range: box
Choose New Worksheet as the location for the PivotTable Report
Click OK
Step 4.In the PivotChart Fields area, under Choose fields to add to report:
Drag the Quality Rating field to the AXIS (CATEGORIES) area
Drag the Meal Price ($) field to the LEGEND (SERIES) area
Drag the Wait Time (min) field to the VALUES area
Step 5.Click on Sum of Wait Time (min) in the Values area
Step 6.Click Value Field Settings from the list of options that appear
Step 7.When the Value Field Settings dialog box appears:
Under Summarize value field by, choose Average
Click Number Format
In the Category: box, choose Number
Enter 1 for Decimal Places:
Click OK
When the Value Field Settings dialog box reappears, click OK
Step 8.Right-click in cell B2 or any cell containing a meal price column label
Step 9.Select Group from the list of options that appears
Step 10.When the Grouping dialog box appears:

FUNDAMENTALS OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS (BUMA 30063) 53

 Enter (1-26) in the Starting at: box
Enter (1-26) in the Ending at: box
Enter (1-26) in the By: box
Click OK
Step 11.Right-click on ―Excellent‖ in cell A5
Step 12.Select Move and click Move “Excellent” to End

Figure 3.28 shows the completed PivotTable and PivotChart

Advanced Data Visualization

Advanced Charts

Although line charts, bar charts, scatter charts, and bubble charts suffice for most data
visualization applications, other charts can be very helpful in certain situations. Unfortunately,
these advanced charts are not easily created with native Excel functionality.

Parallel Coordinates Plot

One type of helpful chart for examining data with more than two variables which includes
a different vertical axis for each variable. Each observation in the set is represented by drawing a
line on the parallel coordinates plot connecting each vertical axis. The height of the line on each
vertical axis represents the value taken by that observation for the variable corresponding to the
vertical axis.

Figure 3.29 displays a parallel coordinates plot for a sample of Major League Baseball players.

FUNDAMENTALS OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS (BUMA 30063) 54

 Tree Map

A tree map is useful for visualizing hierarchical data along multiple dimensions.

Figure 3.30 is a tree map for analyzing stock market performance.

In the map of the market, each rectangle represents a particular company. The shading of
the rectangle represents the overall performance of the company’s stock over the previous 52
weeks.

Geographic Information Systems Chart

Consider the case of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, which derives much of its
revenue from selling annual memberships to customers. The Cincinnati Zoo would like to better
understand where its current members are located. Figure 3.31 displays a map of the Cincinnati,
Ohio, metropolitan area showing the relative concentrations of Cincinnati Zoo members. The more
darkly shaded areas represent areas with a greater number of members. Figure 3.31 is an
example of a geographic information system (GIS), which merges maps and statistics to
present data collected over different geographies. Displaying geographic data on a map can often
help in interpreting data and observing patterns.

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 The GIS chart in Figure 3.31 combines a heat map and a geographical map to help the
reader analyze this data set. From the figure we can see that a high concentration of zoomembers
in a band to the northeast of the zoo that includes the cities of Mason and Hamilton (circled). Also,
a high concentration of zoo members lies to the southwest of the zoo around the city of Florence.
These observations could prompt the zoo manager to identify thecharacteristics that the
populations of Mason, Hamilton, and Florence share to learn what is leading them to be zoo
members. If these characteristics can be identified, the manager can then try to identify other
nearby populations that share these characteristics as potential markets for increasing the number
of zoo members.

Data Dashboards
A data dashboard is a data visualization tool that illustrates multiple metrics and
automatically updates these metrics as new data become available. It is like an automobile’s
dashboard instrumentation that provides information on the vehicle’s current speed, fuel level,
and engine temperature so that a driver can assess the current operating conditions and take
effective action. Similarly, a data dashboard provides the important metrics that managers need
to quickly assess the performance of their organization and react accordingly. In this section we
provide guidelines for creating effective data dashboards and an example application.

Principles of Effective Data Dashboards

In an automobile dashboard, values such as current speed, fuel level, and oil pressure are
displayed to give the driver a quick overview of current operating characteristics. In a business,
the equivalent values are often indicative of the business’s current operating characteristics, such
as its financial position, the inventory on hand, customer service metrics, and the like. These
values are typically known as key performance indicators (KPIs). A data dashboard should
provide timely summary information on KPIs that are important to the user, and it should do so in
a manner that informs rather than overwhelms its user.

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 Ideally, a data dashboard should present all KPIs as a single screen that a user can quickly
scan to understand the business’s current state of operations. Rather than requiring the user to
scroll vertically and horizontally to see the entire dashboard, it is better to create multiple
dashboards so that each dashboard can be viewed on a single screen.

The KPIs displayed in the data dashboard should convey meaning to its user and be
related to the decisions the user makes. For example, the data dashboard for a marketing
manager may have KPIs related to current sales measures and sales by region, while the data
dashboard for a CFO should provide information on the current financial standing of the company
including cash on hand, current debt obligations, and so on.

Applications of Data Dashboards

To illustrate the use of a data dashboard in decision making, we discuss an application
involving the Grogan Oil Company which has offices located in three cities in Texas: Austin (its
headquarters), Houston, and Dallas. Grogan’s Information Technology (IT) call center, located in
Austin, handles calls from employees regarding computer-related problems involving software,
Internet, and e-mail issues.

The data dashboard shown in Figure 3.32, developed to monitor the performance of the
call center, combines several displays to track the call center’s KPIs. The data presented are for
the current shift, which started at 8:00 a.m. The line chart in the upper left-hand corner shows the
call volume for each type of problem (Software, Internet, or E-mail) over time. This chart shows
that call volume is heavier during the first few hours of the shift, that calls concerning e- mail
issues appear to decrease over time, and that the volume of calls regarding software issues are
highest at midmorning. A line chart is effective here because these are time series data and the
line chart helps identify trends over time. The column chart in the upper right-hand corner of the
dashboard shows the percentage of time that call center employees spent on each type of
problem or were idle (not working on a call). Both the line chart and the column chart are important
displays in determining optimal staffing levels.

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 The clustered bar chart in the middle right of the dashboard shows the call volume by type
of problem for each of Grogan’s offices. This allows the IT manager to quickly identify if there is a
particular type of problem by location.

For each unresolved case that was received more than 15 minutes ago, the bar chart
shown in the middle left of the data dashboard displays the length of time for which each case
has been unresolved. This chart enables Grogan to quickly monitor the key problem cases and
decide whether additional resources may be needed to resolve them. The worst case, T57, has
been unresolved for over 300 minutes and is actually left over from the previous shift. Finally, the
chart in the bottom panel shows the length of time required for for quantitative data (discussed in
Chapter 2).

Throughout the dashboard a consistent color coding scheme is used for problem type ( E-
mail, Software, and Internet). Because the Time to Resolve a Case chart is not broken down by
problem type, dark grey shading is used so as not to confuse these values with a particular
problem type. Other dashboard designs are certainly possible, and improvements could certainly
be made to the design shown in Figure 3.32. However, what is important is that information is
clearly communicated so that managers can improve their decision making.

Read:
Chp. 3 - Camm, J., Cochran, Fry, Ohlmann, Anderson, Sweeney, Williams. (2015). Essentials of
Business Analytics. Stamford, USA: Cengage Learning.

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