Unit I BUSINESS ANALYTICS – INTRODUCTION & 9

DATA VISUALISATION
Business Analytics - Definition, Journey of Information System. Types of analytics - Descriptive,
Diagnostics, Discovery, Predictive and Prescriptive analytics. Data visualisation - Overview of Data
Visualization, The Shapes of Data, Common Visualization Idioms, Visualization of Spatial Data, Data
Storytelling, Visualization of Non-Numerical Data, Using Colour and Size in Visualization, Visualization of
Numerical Data.
Unit II MARKETING ANALYTICS 9
Market Segmentation: Cluster Analysis and Collaborative Filtering. What do Consumers want? – Conjoint
Analysis. Pricing Analytics: Estimating Demand Curves and Optimize Price, Price Bundling, Non-linear
Pricing, Price Skimming and Sales, Revenue Management. Promotion Analytics. Retail Analytics: Market
Basket Analysis and Lift, RFM analysis.
Unit FINANCIAL ANALYTICS 9
III
Profitability Analysis for firm’s business performance & profit earning ability. Working Capital Analysis for
firms’ operational efficiency. Activity Analysis for evaluation of a company’s production process, human
resource requirements, time taken, raw materials consumed, and value creation. Financial Structure Analysis
for the interpretation of the business capital structure to balance the firm’s debt and equity proportion.
Unit OPERATIONS ANALYTICS 9
IV
Forecasting as Integral part of Business Planning – Qualitative and Quantitative Forecasting Techniques.
Decision Tree analysis for facility planning. Evaluating location alternatives – Cost profit and volume
analysis, Center of gravity method. Line Balancing Heuristics – Incremental utilization heuristics, longest
time heuristics. Project Planning and Control techniques. Determining Order quantities.
Unit V HUMAN RESOURCE ANALYTICS 9
Workforce Segmenting – based on employee facts, visualizing headcount by segment, analyzing metrics by
segment, understanding segment hierarchies, creating calculated segments. Estimating Employee Life - time
Value (ELV) – importance, calculating ELV and making better decisions with ELV. Creating Employee
journey Map. Talent acquisition analytics. Measuring ABCs of a Productive Worker, Analyzing Employee
commitment and Attrition.
1.1. Definition
Business analytics, or simply analytics, is the use of data, information technology, statistical
analysis, quantitative methods, and mathematical or computer-based models to help managers gain
improved insight about their business operations and make better, fact based decisions.

Business analytics is “a process of transforming data into actions through analysis and insights in the context
of organizational decision making and problem solving.”

1.2. Evolution of Business Analytics

Analytical methods, in one form or another, have been used in business for more than a century.
However, the modern evolution of analytics began with the introduction of computers in the late 1940s and
their development through the 1960s and beyond.
Early computers provided the ability to store and analyze data in ways that were either very difficult
or impossible to do so manually.
 This facilitated the collection, management, analysis, and reporting of data, which is often called
Business intelligence (BI), a term that was coined in 1958 by an IBM researcher, Hans Peter Luhn.
Business intelligence software can answer basic questions such as
 “How many units did we sell last month?”
 “What products did customers buy and how much did they spend?”
 “How many credit card transactions were completed yesterday?”
Using BI, we can create simple rules to flag exceptions automatically, for example, a bank can easily
identify transactions greater than $10,000 to report to the Internal Revenue Service. BI has evolved
into the modern discipline we now call information systems (IS).
 Statistics has a long and rich history, yet only rather recently has it been recognized as an important
element of business, driven to a large extent by the massive growth of data in today’s world.
Statistical methods allow us to gain a richer understanding of data that goes beyond business
intelligence reporting by not only summarizing data succinctly but also finding unknown and
interesting relationships among the data. Statistical methods include the basic tools of description,
exploration, estimation, and inference, as well as more advanced techniques like regression,
forecasting, and data mining.
 Much of modern business analytics stems from the analysis and solution of complex decision
problems using mathematical or computer-based models—a discipline known as operations research,
or management science. Many OR/MS applications use modeling and optimization—techniques for
translating real problems into mathematics, spreadsheets, or other computer languages, and using
them to find the best (“optimal”) solutions and decisions. INFORMS, the Institute for Operations
Research and the Management Sciences, is the leading professional society devoted to OR/MS and
analytics, and publishes a bimonthly magazine called Analytics.
  Decision support systems (DSS) began to evolve in the 1960s by combining business intelligence
concepts with OR/MS models to create analytical-based computer systems to support decision
making. DSSs include three components:
o Data management. The data management component includes databases for storing data and
allows the user to input, retrieve, update, and manipulate data.
o Model management. The model management component consists of various statistical tools
and management science models and allows the user to easily build, manipulate, analyze, and
solve models.
o Communication system. The communication system component provides the interface
necessary for the user to interact with the data and model management components.
DSSs have been used for many applications, including pension fund management, portfolio
management, work-shift scheduling, global manufacturing and facility location, advertising-budget
allocation, media planning, distribution planning, airline operations planning, inventory control,
library management, classroom assignment, nurse scheduling, blood distribution, water pollution
control, ski-area design, police-beat design, and energy planning.

Modern business analytics can be viewed as an integration of BI/IS, statistics, and modeling and
optimization as illustrated in Figure. While the core topics are traditional and have been used for decades,
the uniqueness lies in their intersections.
 Data mining is focused on better understanding characteristics and patterns among variables
in large databases using a variety of statistical and analytical tools. Data Pre-processing,
Exploratory Data Analysis, Data Selection, and Knowledge Discovery.
 Simulation and risk analysis relies on spread sheet models and statistical analysis to examine
the impacts of uncertainty in the estimates and their potential interaction with one another on
the output variable of interest.
  Spreadsheets and formal models allow one to manipulate data to perform what-if analysis—
how specific combinations of inputs that reflect key assumptions will affect model outputs.
What-if analysis is also used to assess the sensitivity of optimization models to changes in
data inputs and provide better insight for making good decisions.
 Visualization. Visualizing data and results of analyses provide a way of easily
communicating data at all levels of a business and can reveal surprising patterns and
relationships. Software such as IBM’s Cognos system exploits data visualization for query and
reporting, data analysis, dashboard presentations, and scorecards linking strategy to
operations.
o The Cincinnati Zoo, for example, has used this on an iPad to display hourly, daily,
and monthly reports of attendance, food and retail location revenues and sales, and
other metrics for prediction and marketing strategies.
o UPS uses telematics to capture vehicle data and display them to help make decisions
to improve efficiency and performance.
o A tag cloud is a visualization of text that shows words that appear more frequently
using larger fonts.
1.3. Impacts and Challenges
The impact of applying business analytics can be significant. Companies report

1. Reduced costs,
2. Better risk management,
3. Faster decisions,
4. Better productivity, and
5. Enhanced bottom- line performance such as profitability and customer satisfaction.

For example, 1-800-flowers.com uses analytic software to target print and online promotions with
greater accuracy; change prices and offerings on its Web site (sometimes hourly); and optimize its
marketing, shipping, distribution, and manufacturing operations, resulting in a $50 million cost savings in
one year.
IBM suggests that traditional management approaches are evolving in today’s analytics-driven
environment to include more fact-based decisions as opposed to judgment and intuition, more prediction
rather than reactive decisions, and the use of analytics by everyone at the point where decisions are made
rather than relying on skilled experts in a consulting group.
Nevertheless, organizations face many challenges in developing analytics capabilities, including lack
of understanding of how to use analytics, competing business priorities, insufficient analytical skills,
difficulty in getting good data and sharing information, and not understanding the benefits versus perceived
costs of analytics studies. Successful application of analytics requires more than just knowing the tools; it
requires a high-level understanding of how analytics supports an organization’s competitive strategy and
effective execution that crosses multiple disciplines and managerial levels.

1.4. Scope of Business Analytics

Business analytics begins with the collection, organization, and manipulation of data and is supported by the
following major components:

A. Discovery Analytics:

 Data discovery refers to the process of exploring and analyzing data to uncover patterns, identify
relationships, and gain insights that improve decision making and business performance. It
involves combining and transforming data from various sources, examining data structures,
and applying visualization techniques to understand and extract valuable information.

 Utilizes data mining and machine learning algorithms to identify hidden relationships and patterns
in large datasets, often without a predetermined hypothesis. Aims to discover new insights and
opportunities that might not be readily apparent

B. Descriptive analytics.

 Most businesses start with descriptive analytics—the use of data to understand past and current
business performance and make informed decisions.

 Uses basic statistical analysis to present summaries of historical data like sales figures, customer
demographics, or website traffic.

 Answers questions like "How many products were sold last month?" or "What is the average
customer age?"

 These techniques categorize, characterize, consolidate, and classify data to convert it into useful
information for the purposes of understanding and analyzing business performance.

 Descriptive analytics summarizes data into meaningful charts and reports, for example, about
budgets, sales, revenues, or cost.

 This process allows managers to obtain standard and customized reports and then drill down into
the data and make queries to understand.

 Descriptive analytics also helps companies to classify customers into different segments, which
enables them to develop specific marketing campaigns and advertising strategies.

C. Diagnostic Analytics:

 Explores the underlying causes behind trends or patterns identified in descriptive analytics.
  Uses techniques like drill-down analysis to identify specific factors contributing to a problem.

 Asks questions like "Why did sales decline in a particular region?"

D. Predictive analytics.

 Predictive analytics seeks to predict the future by examining historical data, detecting patterns or
relationships in these data, and then extrapolating these relationships forward in time.

 Leverages statistical models and machine learning to predict future outcomes based on historical
data.

 Examples include forecasting customer churn, predicting sales trends, or identifying potential risks

 A marketer might wish to predict the response of different customer segments to an advertising
campaign, a commodities trader might wish to predict short-term movements in commodities
prices, or a skiwear manufacturer might want to predict next season’s demand for skiwear of a
specific colour and size.

 Predictive analytics can predict risk and find relationships in data not readily apparent with
traditional analyses. Using advanced techniques, predictive analytics can help to detect hidden
patterns in large quantities of data to segment and group data into coherent sets to predict
behaviour and detect trends.

 For instance, a bank manager might want to identify the most profitable customers or predict the
chances that a loan applicant will default, or alert a credit-card customer to a potential fraudulent
charge. Predictive analytics helps to answer questions such as “What will happen if demand falls
by 10% or if supplier prices go up 5%?” “What do we expect to pay for fuel over the next several
months?” “What is the risk of losing money in a new business venture?”

E. Prescriptive analytics.

 Goes beyond prediction by suggesting the optimal course of action to achieve a desired outcome.

 Often incorporates optimization algorithms to identify the best possible decision based on
predicted scenarios.

 Answers questions like "What marketing campaign should be launched to maximize sales?"

Many problems, such as aircraft or employee scheduling and supply chain design, for example,
simply involve too many choices or alternatives for a human decision maker to effectively consider.
Prescriptive analytics uses optimization to identify the best alternatives to minimize or maximize
some objective. Prescriptive analytics is used in many areas of business, including operations,
marketing, and finance. For example, we may determine the best pricing and advertising strategy to
 maximize revenue, the optimal amount of cash to store in ATMs, or the best mix of investments in a
retirement portfolio to manage risk. The mathematical and statistical techniques of predictive
analytics can also be combined with optimization to make decisions that take into account the
uncertainty in the data. Prescriptive analytics addresses questions such as “How much should we
produce to maximize profit?” “What is the best way of shipping goods from our factories to
minimize costs?” “Should we change our plans if a natural disaster closes a supplier’s factory: if so,
by how much?”

Solved Case 1 - Analytics in the Home Lending and Mortgage Industry.

Sometime during their lives, most Americans will receive a mortgage loan for a house or condominium. The
process starts with an application. The application contains all pertinent information about the borrower that
the lender will need.
The bank or mortgage company then initiates a process that leads to a loan decision. It is here that
key information about the borrower is provided by third-party providers. This information includes a credit
report, verification of income, verification of assets, verification of employment, and an appraisal of the
property among others. The result of the processing function is a complete loan file that contains all the
information and documents needed to underwrite the loan, which is the next step in the process.
Underwriting is where the loan application is evaluated for its risk. Underwriters evaluate whether
the borrower can make payments on time, can afford to pay back the loan, and has sufficient collateral in the
property to back up the loan. In the event the borrower defaults on their loan, the lender can sell the property
to recover the amount of the loan. But, if the amount of the loan is greater than the value of the property,
then the lender cannot recoup their money. If the underwriting process indicates that the borrower is
creditworthy, has the capacity to repay the loan, and the value of the property in question is greater than the
loan amount, then the loan is approved and will move to closing.
Closing is the step where the borrower signs all the appropriate papers agreeing to the terms of the
loan. In reality, lenders have a lot of other work to do. First, they must perform a quality control review on a
sample of the loan files that involves a manual examination of all the documents and information gathered.
This process is designed to identify any mistakes that may have been made or information that is missing
from the loan file.
Because lenders do not have unlimited money to lend to borrowers, they frequently sell the loan to a
third party so that they have fresh capital to lend to others. This occurs in what is called the secondary
market.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are the two largest purchasers of mortgages in the secondary market.
The final step in the process is servicing. Servicing includes all the activities associated with
providing the customer service on the loan like processing payments, managing property taxes held in
escrow, and answering questions about the loan.
In addition, the institution collects various operational data on the process to track its performance
and efficiency, including the number of applications, loan types and amounts, cycle times (time to close the
loan), bottlenecks in the process, and so on.
Many different types of analytics are used:
Descriptive Analytics—This focuses on historical reporting, addressing such questions as:
 How many loan apps were taken each of the past 12 months?
 What was the total cycle time from app to close?
 What was the distribution of loan profitability by credit score and loan-to-value (LTV), which is
the mortgage amount divided by the appraised value of the property.
Predictive Analytics—Predictive modelling use mathematical, spreadsheet, and statistical models, and
address questions such as:
 What impact on loan volume will a given marketing program have?
 How many processors or underwriters are needed for a given loan volume?
 Will a given process change reduce cycle time?
Prescriptive Analytics—This involves the use of simulation or optimization to drive decisions. Typical
questions include:
 What is the optimal staffing to achieve a given profitability constrained by a fixed cycle time?
 What is the optimal product mix to maximize profit constrained by fixed staffing?
The mortgage market has become much more dynamic in recent years due to rising home values, falling
interest rates, new loan products, and an increased desire by home owners to utilize the equity in their homes
as a financial resource. This has increased the complexity and variability of the mortgage process and
created an opportunity for lenders to proactively use the data that are available to them as a tool for
managing their business. To ensure that the process is efficient, effective and performed with quality, data
and analytics are used every day to track what is done, who is doing it, and how long it takes.

Solved Case 2 - Retail Markdown Decisions

As you probably know from your shopping experiences, most department stores and fashion retailers clear
their seasonal inventory by reducing prices. The key question they face is what prices should they set—and
when should they set them—to meet inventory goals and maximize revenue?
For example, suppose that a store has 100 bathing suits of a certain style that go on sale from April 1 and
wants to sell all of them by the end of June. Over each week of the 12-week selling season, they can make a
decision to discount the price.
They face two decisions: When to reduce the price and by how much?
This results in 24 decisions to make. For a major national chain that may carry thousands of products, this
can easily results in millions of decisions that store managers have to make.
Descriptive analytics can be used to examine historical data for similar products, such as the
number of units sold, price at each point of sale, starting and ending inventories, and special promotions,
newspaper ads, direct marketing ads, and so on, to understand what the results of past decisions achieved.
 Predictive analytics can be used to predict sales based on pricing decisions.
Finally, prescriptive analytics can be applied to find the best set of pricing decisions to maximize
the total revenue.

1.5. Variety of Tools to support Business Analytics

A wide variety of tools are used to support business analytics include:
• Database queries and analysis • Forecasting
• “Dashboards” to report key performance measures • Data and text mining
• Data visualization • Optimization
• Statistical methods • Social media, Web, and text analytics
• Spread sheets and predictive models • Simulation
• Scenario and “what-if” analyses

1.6. Overview of Data Visualisation

a) Definition of Data visualization

Data visualization is the process of displaying data (often in large quantities) in a meaningful fashion to
provide insights that will support better decisions.

b) Benefits of Data Visualisation

Researchers have observed that data visualization improves decision-making, provides managers with
better analysis capabilities that reduce reliance on IT professionals, and improves collaboration and
information sharing.

1.7. The Shapes of Data

The shapes of data" refers to the visual pattern a dataset forms when plotted on a graph.

When a data set is graphed, each point is arranged to produce one of dozens of different shapes. The distribution
shape can give you a visual which helps to show how the data is:

 Spread out (e.g. dispersion, variability, scatter),

 Where the mean lies,

 What the range of the data set is.

Shapes of distributions are defined by several different factors:

1. Number of peaks
The peaks are usually called modes; The mode tells you that the data count is higher in these areas than in any
other areas on the graph.

1. A unimodal distribution has one mode. A

single peak can take on many shapes (e.g.
very tall and thin or very squat and fat).
One of the most common types of
unimodal distributions is the normal
distribution.

2. A bimodal distribution has two modes.

Suppose that we have the test results

represented by the distribution shown above.
From inspection, we can see that the
distribution is also symmetric. However, the
line of symmetry is at the test score, 44, with
the lowest peak.

Taking a look at its peaks, we can see that the

mode occurs twice: when the test score
is 38 and when the test score is 50. This means
that the distribution is bimodal.

3. A multimodal distribution has three or

more modes.
4. If a data set has no clear peaks (i.e. the
whole graph looks flat), it’s called a
“uniform distribution.”

2. Symmetry

A symmetric graph has two sides that are mirror images of each other. The normal distribution is one example
of a symmetric graph.

The normal distribution.

Another type of symmetric graph is the U-distribution, which—perhaps not surprisingly— looks like the letter
“U”.

Quadratic U-Distribution. Image credit:

UCLA

A symmetric box plot has the “box” in the center of the graph:
 A symmetric box plot.

3. Skewness

Shapes of distributions can differ in skewness; these distributions are not symmetrical distributions. Instead,
they have more points plotted on one side of the mean than on the other. This causes long tails either in the
negative direction on the number line (a negative, or left skew) or in the positive direction on the number
line (a positive, or right skew). For more on how skewness affects shapes of distributions, see: Skewed
Distribution in Statistics.

A Left-skewed, negative
distribution with a long tail in the negative direction of the number line.

The tails of a distribution (i.e. how thin or fat they are) can also be described by kurtosis, which is measured
against the standard normal distribution. A positive value for kurtosis means you have a large peak and little
data in the tails. A negative value means you have a flattened peak with lots of data in the tails.

The shape of distribution helps us understand the spread and behavior of a given distribution. With visual
representations such as the distribution’s shapes, we can easily represent important data components and help others
understand how our data behave visually.

The shape of distribution provides helpful insights about the distribution. This includes the distribution’s
peaks, symmetry, uniformity, as well as its tendency to lean towards the left or right corner.

Thanks to the shape of the distribution, identifying the descriptive statistics of the distribution will be much easier.
This also means that the distribution’s shape will come in handy when reporting and observing distributions.
 In this article, we’ll show you the fundamental features of a distribution’s curve and how to use these factors to
describe the shape of a given distribution.

What Is the Shape of the Distribution?

The shape of the distribution is a helpful feature that easily reflects the frequency of values within given
intervals. When given a distribution and its shape, here are other helpful details we can learn about a data set from
the shape of its distribution:

 Represents how spread out the data is across the range

 Helps identify which range the mean of the data set lies

 Highlights the range of a given data set

As we have learned in the past, we can visualize distributions such as the frequency or probability
distribution using histograms. The shape formed by the histogram represents the shape of the distribution.

Here’s an example of a distribution and its shape. By inspecting its shape, we’ll have an idea of the peaks of the
data set. The distribution’s shape also allows us to identify whether the distribution is skewed or symmetric, unimodal
or bimodal, and more.

The shape of the distribution will depend on many factors, so let’s break down these factors and understand what
they represent.

Factors Affecting the Shape of a Distribution

There are different factors that affect the shape of a distribution as discussed in the previous section. These factors
also help us identify key measures of the distribution.

These are the factors that affect the shape of a distribution:

1. The number of peaks present in the distribution affects its shape.

 The peaks of a distribution’s shape often represent its mode/s.

  This means that when there is only one peak, the distribution is unimodal.

 Similarly, when the distribution has two peaks, we call it bimodal.

 When the shape shows three or more peaks, the distribution is multimodal.

2. As with a function’s curve, distributions and their shapes may or may not exhibit symmetry.

 When the distribution’s shape is folded and the left and right folds are each other’s mirror images, the
distribution is symmetrical.

 When the shape of the distribution return folds that are not mirror images, the distribution is asymmetrical.

3. When the shape of the distribution is asymmetric, we can also see whether the distribution is positively or
negatively skewed.

 When the shape of the distribution is leaning towards the right corner, the distribution is positively skewed.

 Meanwhile, when the shape of the distribution is leaning towards the left corner, the distribution is negatively
skewed.

These are the properties needed for us to describe the shape of a given distribution. By being aware of these
factors, we also immediately know the important components and behavior of the distribution. In the next section,
we’ll explore different distributions and shapes to help you master the process of describing the shape of a
distribution.

How To Describe the Shape of a Distribution?

Describe the shape of distribution by using the different factors affecting its shape: its peaks, symmetry,
skewness, and at times, uniformity.

When given a table of distribution, use the steps below as a guide:

 Visualize the distribution using histograms or distribution.

 Apply appropriate techniques to construct the required distribution.

 Observe the curve’s shape – this represents the shape of the distribution.
  Use the features we’ve discussed to thoroughly describe the shape of a distribution.

After determining whether the shape or curve has one or more peaks, study the curve’s symmetry or lack thereof.
When the distribution, such as the normal distribution, is symmetric, its mean, mode, and median will have the
same values.

Now, how do we interpret curves that are positively or negatively skewed?

When the curve is negatively skewed, we expect that the mode has the largest value followed by the
median and then the mean. Similarly, when the shape of the distribution is positively skewed, the mean has the
highest value followed by the median and then the mode.

Here’s a table summarizing this interpretation:

Symmetry/ Skewness Interpretation

Negatively Skewed Mean < Median < Mode

Symmetric Mean = Median = Mode

Positively Skewed Mean > Median > Mode

Suppose that we have the data of the test results from an online quiz of a virtual math class. The histogram of the
frequency distribution is as shown below.
 By observing the chart alone, we can see that the histogram is symmetric. This means that when we fold this
chart, its left half will be the mirror image of its right. As we expect from a symmetric distribution, the chart only has
one peak and consequently, one mode.

The peak occurs at 44. Since the distribution is symmetric, we also expect the mean and the median to occur at
the peak. This means that the average score of the students from the virtual math class is 44.

When the line of symmetry lies on the peak of the distribution, we can also call the curve a bell-shaped curve.
When it’s the reverse, where the line of symmetry lies at its minimum, we call the distribution a U-shaped curve.

Suppose that we have the test results represented by the distribution shown above. From inspection, we can see
that the distribution is also symmetric. However, the line of symmetry is at the test score, 44, with the lowest peak.

Taking a look at its peaks, we can see that the mode occurs twice: when the test score is 38 and when the test
score is 50. This means that the distribution is bimodal.
 Let’s now take a look at the third distribution – a histogram that’s heavily skewed to the right. As we have
expected, the distribution’s peak (or its mode) will lie within the lower end of the range. When the distribution
is positively skewed, we also expect that the mode has the least value among the three central measures.

Last but not the least, what if we’re given a distribution such as the one shown above?

We can see that the distribution is skewed to the left where the peak lies at the higher end. As we have learned of
the negatively skewed distribution, the mode will have the highest value.

These are just four examples of different distributions with different shapes. Don’t worry, we‘ve prepared more
practice questions for you to work on. When you’re ready, head on over to the section below!

Example 1

Harry runs a convenience store with his partner. On Monday, he did a quick survey to understand his customers’
coffee size preferences. The convenience store currently offers four sizes: Small ($1.00), Medium ($1.20), Large
($1.40), and XL ($1.60). After one whole day of asking their customers who ordered coffee, Harry tallied the chart
shown below.
 Coffee Size Number of Customers

Small ($1.00) 24

Medium ($1.20) 12

Large ($1.40) 12

XL ($1.60) 24

What is the shape of the distribution that represents the chart shown above?

Solution

Sketching the data’s distribution, we’ll see that the histogram is symmetric with its lowest value found at the line
of symmetry.

This means that we’re looking at a U-shaped curve. Aside from the distribution being symmetric, there is the
same number of customers who ordered coffee in small and extra-large cups. From this, we can see that the
distribution is also bimodal.

Common shapes of data

There is a very large number of potential shapes of data sets, but there are only a handful of data distributions that are
commonly found. An example of each common shape of data is drawn below.
In each instance, the x-axis can represent something different (the number of coin tosses that result in heads, or length,
or time, etc.) depending on what is measured in the experiment. The y-axis indicates how likely each data value is in
the data set.

Amazingly, there are only about 14 shapes of data that are commonly found. The shape of a data set is a graphical way
of understanding the distribution in a data set, which describes how frequently each value occurs within a data set.

1. The Bernoulli distribution has exactly two outcomes: for example, heads or tails, success or failure, 0's and
1's. Consider flipping a coin and either getting 0 heads (i.e., tails) or 1 head. These two outcomes are equally
likely, as illustrated in the diagram with two lines of equal height.

 The Bernoulli distribution could represent outcomes that aren’t equally likely, like the result of an
unfair coin toss. Then, the probability of heads is not 0.5, but some other value p, and the probability
of tails is 1-p. (For example, it could be 0.4 probability of getting heads and 0.6 probability of getting
tails.)

2. A uniform distribution has many equally-likely outcomes, characterized by its flat shape. For example,
imagine rolling a standard 6 sided die, such that the outcomes 1 to 6 are equally likely.

3. A binomial distribution describes the sum of multiple Bernoulli trials. For example, if you flipped a coin 10
times, how often would you expect to get 5 heads? or 4 heads? A binomial distribution describes how many
successes occur when n trials are conducted, where each trial can be a success or failure (e.g., heads or tails if
 flipping a coin n times). In a binomial distribution, each trial is independent (i.e., plotting how many times a
coin comes up heads when it is flipped 20 times takes on a binomial distribution because each flip, or trial, is
independent and has the same probability of success regardless of how the other trials turned out.)

4. The Poisson distribution describes situations where random events occur at a certain rate over a period of
time. The Poisson distribution is used for determining the probability for a number of events occurring in a
fixed interval of time given a process in which events occur continuously and independently and at a constant
average rate.

5. Whereas the binomial distribution plots how many successes occur in n trials, the geometric
distribution describes how many failures occur before a success (e.g., how many tails do you get before a
heads).

6. While the geometric distribution describes how many failures occur before 1 success, the negative binomial
distribution is a generalization that plots the number of failures until r successes have occurred, not just 1.

7. The exponential distribution is the probability distribution of the time between events in a process in which
events occur continuously and independently at a constant average rate.

8. The Weibull distribution is a generalization of the exponential distribution. Whereas the exponential
distribution describes the time between events that are constantly occurring, the Weibull distribution can
model increasing (or decreasing) rates of failure over time. The exponential is simply a special case of the
Weibull.

9. The symmetric, bell-shaped curve of a normal distribution is one of the most important distributions in
statistics because it arises naturally in so many applications. Large sums of random variables often turn out to
be normally distributed. In a normal distribution, the mean, median, and mode are all equal, and the curve is
symmetric around this center value. Exactly half of the values are to the left of center and exactly half of the
values are to the right.

10. The Student’s t distribution has fatter tails than those of the normal distribution (as described in Why
visualize data?).

11. The chi-squared distribution is the distribution of the sum of squares of normally-distributed values.

12. Like the exponential distribution, the gamma distribution is used to model waiting times.

1.8. Common Visualization Idioms

Idioms are "a distinct approach to creating and manipulating visual representations” (Munzner 2014). In other words
they are the form or type of visualization that you are choosing to represent the data. Common idioms include bar
graphs, pie charts etc.

Data visualization presents raw data in graphical visualization formats that allow users to answer questions and
discover insights. As such, there are many different ways to visually present the data. An idiom is the specific way to
visually create and manipulate data [5]. Common idioms include bar graphs, pie charts, scatter plots, bubble charts,
and heat maps. Each idiom has its own strengths and weaknesses; deciding which idiom to use to represent a dataset
depends on the research question and the type of data present. Common univariate visualization idioms include the bar
chart and the pie chart. To visualize bivariate data, graphs are commonly used to provide information on the
relationship between the two variables. Scatter plots are one of the most popular options for graphically representing
bivariate data. There are many idiom options for visualizing multivariate data, including radar charts and tree maps.
Additionally, some multivariate data may also be tightly coupled with geospatial regions. Common idioms used to
visualize these kinds of data include spiral theme plots, cartograms, heat maps and ring maps.

Borner and Polley identified 5 major categories of data in Visual Insights. Of course this isn't exhaustive and your data
might side outside of this.

1. Temporal Data - This type of data answers the "when" question and highlights the temporal distribution of
datasets; to identify growth rates, latency to peak times, or decay rates; to see patterns in time-series data, such
as trends, seasonality, or bursts.

2. Geospatial Data - This type of data answers the "where" question and uses location information to identify
position or movement over geographic space.

3. Topical Data - This type of data is textual, linguistic or semantic data, often used in the humanities and social
sciences. This data answers the "what" question.

4. Tree Data - Answers the question "with whom." Tree datasets, such as directory structures, organizational
hierarchies, branch- ing processes, genealogies, or classification hierarchies are commonly organized and
displayed using tree visualizations: for example, tree views, treemaps, or tree graphs

5. Network Data - Answers the question "with whom" as well. This type of data aims to increase our
understanding of natural and manmade networks. This can look like social network analysis, bibliometrics,
mapping in physics etc.

Data Storytelling

Data storytelling is the concept of building a compelling narrative based on complex data and analytics that help tell
your story and influence and inform a particular audience.

The benefits of data storytelling

Data storytelling is very similar to human storytelling but provides the added benefits of deeper insights and
supporting evidence through graphs and charts. Through data storytelling, complicated information is simplified so
that your audience can engage with your content and make critical decisions quicker and more confidently.
Constructing a data story that moves a person to take action can be a very powerful tool. Effective data storytelling
can have a positive impact on people and your organization. Some benefits of successful data storytelling include:

 Adding value to your data and insights.

 Interpreting complex information and highlighting essential key points for the audience.

 Providing a human touch to your data.

 Offering value to your audience and industry.

 Building credibility as an industry and topic thought leader.

The three key elements of data storytelling

Through a structured approach, data storytelling and data visualization work together to communicate your insights
through three essential elements: narrative, visuals, and data. As you create your data story, it is important to combine
the following three elements to write a well-rounded anecdote of your theory and the resulting actions you’d like to
see from users.

1. Build your narrative

As you tell your story, you need to use your data as supporting pillars to your insights. Help your audience
understand your point of view by distilling complex information into informative insights. Your narrative and
context are what will drive the linear nature of your data storytelling.

2. Use visuals to enlighten

Visuals can help educate the audience on your theory. When you connect the visual assets (charts, graphs,
etc.) to your narrative, you engage the audience with otherwise hidden insights that provide the fundamental
data to support your theory. Instead of presenting a single data insight to support your theory, it helps to show
multiple pieces of data, both granular and high level, so that the audience can truly appreciate your viewpoint.

3. Show data to support

Humans are not naturally attracted to analytics, especially analytics that lack contextualization
using augmented analytics. Your narrative offers enlightenment, supported by tangible data. Context and
critique are integral to the full interpretation of your narrative. Using business analytic tools to provide key
insights and understanding to your narrative can help provide the much-needed context throughout your data
story.
By combining the three elements above, your data story is sure to create an emotional response in your audience.
Emotion plays a significant role in decision-making. And by linking the emotional context and hard data in your data
storytelling, you’re able to influence others. When these three key elements are successfully integrated, you have
created a data story that can influence people and drive change.

Data storytelling examples

Data storytelling is the art of presenting data with a contextual narrative. There are a few different ways to present
your data story. A data dashboard presents all available data so you’re able to create your narrative. Below are a few
examples of eye-catching data storytelling.

Source: Microsoft Power BI Blog

A dashboard presents all your information front and center. While your dashboard might provide some context, you
will need to build your narrative and connect the dots. Simplicity works best. Just providing an intro sentence with a
data-driven graphic is often the quickest way to tell a short data story.
Source: Microsoft Power BI

Another data storytelling example of connecting two or more data visualizations—a call center analysis that shows
customer satisfaction based on subject, percentage of satisfied and unsatisfied customers, total number of satisfied and
unsatisfied customers, and other smaller stories that together tell a larger story.

Source: Microsoft Power BI

Infographics are a form of data storytelling, as well as a quick way to tell a visually appealing data story. An
infographic can consist of individual data visualizations that help tell your story but might not provide much narrative
(like the example above).

Data storytelling is changing how we consume information

There’s a possibility that data storytelling has the potential to make a huge shift in changing the face of how we
consume data and analytics. Data storytelling adds a human touch to the sometimes-indecipherable numbers and
figures raw data presents to us. Building a narrative is a major component of the process, but creating a strong story is
dependent on your being able to understand and translate that information from an unbiased point of view. Microsoft
Power BI can help you tell that story.

Data storytelling definition

Data storytelling is the practice of crafting compelling narratives to effectively convey data-driven insights to
stakeholders. Its objective is to boil down complex information into only its most essential elements so that it is easily
understood and grasped by others through a compelling, engaging narrative.

Data storytelling example

Conceptually, data storytelling is similar to storytelling in general: a narrative unfolds as the natural consequence of a
series of events. The difference is that in data storytelling, those events are data points (rather than characters or plot
points) that, taken together, start to tell their story.

Some examples of data storytelling include:

 A social media marketer illustrates a particular post's positive impact on engagement by showcasing it beside
others that performed less well. They organize their data so that the reason for its strong performance is clear
to stakeholders.

 A public health agency releases a report detailing the personal experiences of individuals impacted by a
disease alongside statistics about infection and hospitalization rates and demographic breakdowns.

Why is data storytelling important?

Data storytelling is important because it helps communicate data insights in a way that others can understand and
encourages them to take meaningful action. Storytelling has been shown to activate certain areas of the brain that
assist with developing long-term memories, making it more likely people will retain the information presented through
data storytelling.

In addition to making the information easier to remember, data storytelling allows you to present findings in a
digestible way. Having people fully understand what the data suggests means they can feel more confident when
making data-based decisions and coming to these conclusions sooner.
3 key elements of data storytelling

Effective data storytelling primarily involves three key areas: data, visualizations, and narrative. The following offers
a closer look at those elements to help you properly utilize all three to assemble a quality story with your data.

1. Data

You'll first need to grasp data and its information before constructing a data story. The insights the data
analysis provides ultimately work as the basis of your story and give you something to center your narrative around.
Before performing your analysis, you will have to sift through the data set to identify the most relevant insights. This
makes it crucial to have robust data literacy and the ability to go in and analyze the data.

Read more: Understanding Different Types of Data

2. Visualizations

Data visualizations not only help make your story more interesting to your audience, but they’re also useful tools for
helping to further explain and uncover data insights.

Selecting a visualization type that correctly represents the data is essential. You should consider factors such as who
you’ll be presenting the data to, the question your data answers, how much data you’re working with, and the type of
data used in the analysis. For example, you could use columns to represent quantitative data or implement maps when
you develop a visual narrative surrounding geographical data.

3. Narrative

The narrative ties everything together in an impactful way. Before developing your story, consider who your audience
is so that you can convey your message in a manner that will interest them.

A good narrative should have several fundamental elements. Within your story, identify a “hero.” In this context, your
hero could be the individual or team helping to work towards an established goal, such as improved customer
retention metrics. The narrative should also have a beginning, middle, and end that’s easy to follow, rather than
jumping back and forth between timelines. Lastly, construct a narrative that the listeners can relate to to make a real
impact on your audience. Doing so will get them more invested and help them get more out of the information.

Pros and cons of data storytelling

Implementing data storytelling has plenty of benefits. Not only will the data and its insights be easier for the
audience to understand and remember, but you can also get them more engaged and ready to take action. It also
encourages data-driven decision-making and helps increase data literacy throughout your organization.

However, this process has some challenges as well. For example, it’s critical that you implement the proper data
visualization method, or you risk incorrectly conveying information. Additionally, while you can view this as a
positive if you’re looking to enter the industry, another challenge associated with data storytelling is the lack of
professionals with adequate data skills. By developing your data storytelling abilities, you can become a desired
commodity by employers.

https://www.writingbeginner.com/data-storytelling/

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/storytelling-in-data-science/

Types of Data Visualization Charts: From Basic to Advanced

Last Updated : 22 Jan, 2025

Data Visualization Charts is a method of presenting data in a visual way. In this guide we'll explore about the different
types of data visualization charts in very detailed manner

Charts for Data Visualization

Basic Charts for Data Visualization

These are the charts you'll face when starting with data visualization. They are simple to create easy to understand and
help you start making sense of your data right away. we use Python libraries like Matplotlib and Seaborn to create
these type of charts.
1. Bar Charts

Bar charts are one of the common visualization tool used to compare facts by showing square bars. A bar chart has X
and Y Axis where the X Axis represents the types and the Y axis represents the price. There are various types of Bar
charts like horizontal bar chart, Stacked bar chart, Grouped bar chart and Diverging bar Chart.

When to Use Bar Chart:

 Comparing Categories: Used to show differences between categories and understand relationships in the
data.

 Ranking: When we got records with categories need to be arranged from highest to lowest we use bar charts.

 Relationship between categories: When you have a dataset with multiple specific variables it can help to
display relationship between them to discover patterns and tendencies.

2. Line Charts

Line chart is a type of graph that displays information over time. It uses markers to represent data points and these
dots are connected by lines to show how the values change over a period. This makes easy to see trends such as
whether something is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.

When to Use Line Chart:

 Line charts can be used to analyze developments over individual values.

 Line charts also are used in comparing trends among more than one facts series.

 Line chart is also used for time series information.

3. Pie Charts

A pie chart is a circular visualization divided into slices to show numerical percentages of a whole. Each slice
represents a category and its size is proportional to the share it represents. They are only valid with small variety of
categories. Simple Pie chart and Exploded Pie charts are distinctive varieties of Pie charts.

When to Use Pie Chart:

 To show how parts make up a whole.

 Useful in emphasizing a particular category by way of highlighting a dominant slice.

4. Scatter Chart (Plots)

A scatter chart is a tool that uses dots to represent data points showing the relationship between two numerical
variables. The X-axis represents the independent variable and the Y-axis represents the dependent variable. Type of
scatter chart consists of simple scatter chart, scatter chart with trendline and scatter chart with coloration coding. They
are used for identifying outliers or unusual remark for your facts.

5. Histogram

A histogram shows the distribution of numerical data by dividing it into intervals (bins) and displaying the frequency
of data points as bars. It helps visualize patterns like skewness, central tendency, and variability.

When to Use Histogram:

 Distribution Visualization: Histograms are best for visualizing the distribution of numerical information
allow customers to recognize shape of the records.

 Data Exploration: It provides records exploration by using revealing patterns, trends, and outliers inside
datasets.

Advanced Charts for Data Visualization

After learning basic charts Now let's move toward advanced charts It allow you to dive deeper into your data help to
find detailed insights show multiple variables and find hidden patterns or relationships.

1. Heatmap

A heatmap visualizes statistics in a matrix layout the usage of colors to symbolize the values of person cells. It is good
for figuring out patterns, correlation and variations within big datasets. Heatmaps are usually utilized in fields like in
finance for portfolio analysis , in biology for gene expression analysis, and in advertising for customer segmentation.

When to Use heatmap:

 Identify Clusters: Heatmaps help us identify clusters or groups within datasets make it easier to segment the
data.

 Correlation Analysis: They are useful for visualizing correlations between variables to discover relationships
and traits.

 Risk Assessment: They are useful for assessing risk like identifying high-risk areas in financial portfolios or
spotting unusual patterns in network traffic.

Area Chart

An area chart displays data trends over time by filling the area beneath lines. It’s similar to a line chart used for
displaying time-series data, where data points are measured over a specific period.

When to Use Area charts:

 Tracking Trends: It shows how something changes over time like stock prices or temperatures.
  Comparative Analysis: They allow to compare multiple categories or variable at a time.

 Highlighting Patterns: Area charts useful for plotting spotting pattern such as seasonality or cyclical
tendencies in time-collection facts.

3. Box Plot (Box-and-Whisker Plot)

A box plot summarizes the distribution of numerical data show quartiles, outliers, and the median. It helps to identify
variability, skewness, and outliers in datasets and is commonly used in statistical analysis ,quality control and data
exploration.

When to Use Box Plots:

 Identify Outliers: Box plots is used to identify outliers in datasets for data cleaning and anomaly detection.

 Compare Distributions: To compare distributions between different groups or categories.

 Visualize Spread: They visualize the spread and variability of information providing insights.

4. Bubble Chart

A bubble chart represents records points as bubbles in which the dimensions and color of every bubble deliver
additional facts. It is powerful for visualizing three-dimensional facts and comparing more than one variables
simultaneously. They are commonly used in finance for portfolio evaluation, in marketing for market segmentation,
and in biology for gene expression evaluation.

When to Use bubble chart:

 Multivariate Analysis: Bubble charts allow you to compare three or more variables in a single visualization.

 Size and Color Encoding: They use size and coloration to deliver extra information such as fee or class.

 Relationship Visualization: Bubble charts help visualize relationships between variables and make easier to
find pattern

5. Tree Map

A tree map displays hierarchical data using nested rectangles where each rectangle's size represents a quantitative
value. It is useful for visualizing hierarchical structures and comparing proportions within the hierarchy.

When to Use Tree Map:

 Hierarchical Representation: Tree maps best at representing hierarchical records structures

 Proportion Comparison: It help to compare proportions within the hierarchy.

  Space Efficiency: They optimize area utilization by using packing rectangles efficiently so that you can
visualize large datasets in a compact layout.

6. Parallel Coordinates

Parallel coordinates visualize multivariate statistics through representing every information point as a line connecting
values across multiple variables. They are useful for exploring relationships among variables and figuring out styles or
trends. Parallel coordinates are generally used in data evaluation, gadget learning, and sample popularity.

When to Use Parallel Coordinates:

 Multivariate Analysis: Parallel coordinates help you compare many variables at the same time to find
patterns.

 Relationship Visualization: They help visualize relationships among variables such as correlations or
clusters.

 Outlier Detection: They help us to find unusual data points that don't follow the common pattern

7. Choropleth Map

A choropleth map uses shade shading or styles to symbolize statistical records over geographic regions. It is generally
used to visualize variations and identify geographic patterns. Choropleth maps are broadly used in fields which
includes demography for populace density mapping, in economics for income distribution visualization, and in
epidemiology for disease prevalence mapping.

When to Use Choropleth Map:

 Spatial Analysis: Choropleth maps are best for spatial analysis allow the visualization of variations in
records.

 Geographic Patterns: They help to become aware of geographic styles which include clusters or gradients in
datasets used in fashion analysis and decision-making.

 Comparison Across Regions: It allow for clean evaluation of information values throughout geographic
regions and provide local evaluation.

8. Sankey Diagram

A Sankey diagram is a type of flow chart that shows how data or resources move between different points (called
nodes) using arrows. The width of each arrow shows how much flow there is so thicker arrows represent more flow.
They are helpful for understanding complex systems and finding patterns in data used in areas like energy flow
analysis, supply chain management and web analytics.

When to Use Sankey Diagram:

  Flow Visualization: It show how information or resources move between different points and making it
easier to understand complex processes or system.

 Bottleneck Identification: They help to spot bottlenecks or areas where the flow of resources slows down or
becomes inefficient.

 Comparative Analysis: They are useful for comparing how flows change over time or in different scenario
and help in evaluating performance and finding opportunities to improve efficiency.

9. Radar Chart (Spider Chart)

A radar chart shows multivariate information on a two-dimensional aircraft with a couple of axes emanating from a
primary point. It is beneficial for comparing a couple of variables across distinct categories and identifying strengths
and weaknesses. Radar charts are usually utilized in sports for overall performance analysis and in selection-making
for multi-criteria decision evaluation.

When to Use Radar Chart:

 Multi-Criteria Comparison: Radar charts permit for the evaluation of more than one criteria or variables
across extraordinary classes.

 Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis: They help to discover strengths and weaknesses within categories or
variables and visualizing their relative overall performance.

 Pattern Recognition: Radar charts useful resource in pattern recognition ,highlighting similarities or
variations between classes..

10. Network Graph

A network graph represents relationships between entities as nodes and edges. It is useful for visualizing complicated
networks consisting of social networks, transportation networks, and organic networks. Network graphs are typically
utilized in social network analysis for community detection and in biology for gene interaction analysis.

When to Use Network Graph:

 Relationship Visualization: Network graphs visualize relationships among entities which includes
connections or interactions and make them valuable for network analysis

 Community Detection: They help to discover communities or clusters within networks by using visualizing
node connections and densities.

 Path Analysis: It help in route analysis by showing the shortest paths or routes between points makes it easier
to optimize routes and plan efficiently.

11. Donut or Doughnut chart

A donut chart is just like pie chart has a hole in the center make it look like a donut. This design makes the chart
visually cleaner and more appealing especially when displaying multiple categories.

In a donut chart the outer ring represents 100% and each slice represents a category. The size of each slice shows how
much each category contributes to the whole.

When to Use Donut Chart:

 It is useful for showing how different categories contribute to a total. For example showing market share or
sales breakdowns.

 Donut charts are great for showing progress towards a goal like a percentage of a target achieved

 Best used for comparing few classes.

12. Gauge Chart

A Gauge chart used to display the progress of a single value, like a key performance indicator (KPI), toward a goal. It
looks like a speedometer with a circular arc showing how close the value is to the target. There two different kinds of
Gauge charts specifically Circular Gauge or Radial Gauge which resembles a speedometer and Linear Gauge.

When to Use Gauge Chart:

 It is useful in monitoring metrics like income or consumer satisfaction towards benchmark signs set.

 Used in KPI monitoring in tracking development towards a selected aim indicator.

 This Can be utilized in project control to music the fame of project progress against assignment timeline.

13. Sunburst Chart

A sunburst chart presents hierarchical records using nested rings in which each ring represents a degree within the
hierarchy. It is beneficial for visualizing hierarchical structures with more than one tiers of aggregation. They allow
customers to explore relationships and proportions inside complicated datasets in an interactive way.

When to use sunburst charts:

 Visualizing hierarchical data systems including organizational hierarchies or nested classes.

 To Explore relationships and proportions within multi-level datasets.

 To Communicate with complex records structures and dependencies in a visually attractive layout.

14. Hexbin Plot

A hexbin plot represents the distribution of dimensional facts by using binning records points into hexagonal cells and
coloring each cellular based totally on the range of factors it contains. It is effective for visualizing density in scatter
plots with a huge wide variety of information points. It provide insights into spatial patterns and concentrations within
datasets.

When to use Hexbin Plot:

 To Visualize the density and distribution of statistics points in two-dimensional area.

 For Identifying clusters or concentrations of statistics inside a scatter plot.

 Handling massive datasets with overlapping data factors in a clear and informative way.

15. Violin Plot

A violin plot combines a box plot with a kernel density plot to show the distribution of statistics together with its
summary statistics. It is useful for comparing the distribution of more than one organizations or categories. It provide
insights into the shape, unfold, and important tendency of statistics distributions.

When to use Violin Plot:

 It Compare the distribution of continuous variables across distinctive groups or categories.

 Visualizing the shape and spread of information distributions, including skewness and multimodality.

 To Present precise information and outliers within information distributions in a visually appealing layout.

Visualization Charts for Textual and Symbolic data

Data visualization charts for textual and symbolic data represent information made up of words, symbols, or other
non-numeric forms. These charts are helpful for displaying data that isn't numbers but still needs to be visualized.
There are mainly of two types let's understand them:

1. Word Cloud

A word cloud is a visual representation of textual content records in which phrases are sized based totally on their
frequency or significance inside the textual content. Common words seem larger and greater outstanding at the same
time as less common phrases are smaller. Word clouds provide a short and intuitive manner to identify distinguished
phrases or issues within a frame of textual content.

When to use Word Cloud:

 To Identify key themes or subjects within a massive corpus of text.

 Visualizing keyword frequency or distribution in textual facts.

 Highlight the giant terms or principles in qualitative evaluation or sentiment evaluation.

2. Pictogram Chart
A pictogram chart makes use of icons or symbols to represent information values wherein the size or amount of icons
corresponds to the value they represent. It is an powerful way to deliver information in a visually appealing way
mainly when coping with categorical or qualitative records.

When to use pictograph chart:

 To Present records in a visual format specially for non-numeric or qualitative records.

 Communicating information to audiences with various tiers of literacy or language talent.

 Emphasizing key statistics points or tendencies the usage of without difficulty recognizable symbols or icons.

Temporal and Trend Charts Data Visualization

Temporal and trend charts are used to show patterns and changes over time especially for time-series data where
each data point is linked to a specific time. Let's understand them one by one:

1. Streamgraph

A streamgraph shows how the composition of a dataset changes over time using stacked areas along a baseline. It's
great for visualizing trends and changes in data distribution over the years.

When to use streamplot:

 Analyze trends and changes in facts distribution over the years.

 Compare the relative contributions of different classes or organizations within a dataset.

 It Highlight patterns in facts through the years in a visually attractive manner.

2. Bullet Graph

A bullet graph is a variant of a bar chart but it includes markers and reference lines to show progress toward a goal. It's
useful for tracking performance against a target.

When to use Bullet Graph:

 It display development toward goals or objectives in a concise and informative manner.

 Compare real performance in opposition to predefined benchmarks or thresholds.

 It Communicate overall performance metrics successfully in dashboards or reports.

3. Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart shows project tasks as horizontal bars along a time axis. It is beneficial for planning, scheduling, and
monitoring progress in venture control. Gantt charts offer a visual evaluation of venture timelines, dependencies, and
aid allocation.
When to use Gantt Chart:

 Do Planning and scheduling complicated tasks with multiple duties and dependencies.

 To Track progress and managing resources at some stage in the mission lifecycle.

 Communicating undertaking timelines and milestones to stakeholders and team participants.

4. Waterfall Chart

A waterfall chart visualizes the cumulative impact of sequential high-quality and negative values on an starting point.
It is generally utilized in financial analysis to show adjustments in net price over time. They provide a clean visual
representation of the way individual factors make contributions to the general alternate in a dataset.

When to use waterfall chart:

 To Analyze and visualize modifications in economic performance or budget allocations through the years.

 For Identify the sources of gains or losses within a dataset and their cumulative impact.

 To Present complicated statistics ameliorations or calculations in a clear and concise layout.

In this article we learned how different charts are used to show data in a simple way. Basic charts like bar charts and
line charts help compare things while advanced charts like heatmaps and box plots show deeper details and Charts like
word clouds and streamgraphs help display text data or data over time.

https://www.safegraph.com/guides/visualizing-geospatial-data

https://humansofdata.atlan.com/2016/10/7-techniques-to-visualize-geospatial-data/

Data visualisation Overview of Data Visualization, The Shapes of Data, Common Visualization Idioms, Visualization
of Spatial Data, Data Storytelling, Visualization of Non-Numerical Data, Using Colour and Size in Visualization,
Visualization of Numerical Data.