Data Visualization for Non-Technical Founders: Communicating Insights Effectively

The importance of Data Visualization

It is becoming increasingly important for entrepreneurs to be able to make data-driven decisions and use visuals to tell stories that clearly demonstrate how data influences their business strategies and outcomes. Tables and graphs serve in this regard as powerful tools to highlight trends and outliers. However, creating effective data visualisations requires a delicate balance between aesthetics, functionality, and presenting the right information. This is one of the reasons companies often have numerous dashboards, yet nobody really looks at them, let alone acts upon them.

Data is only valuable when it provides insights. By visualizing data, you ensure that everyone within the organisation can comprehend the flood of information. The human brain is visually oriented and, as a result, better remembers visual information.

The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization:

There is a simple guideline created by Jeffrey Shaffer, which you should always use when creating any data visualization.

1. Clear - Who's the audience? What's the message??Clarity is more important than aesthetics! (easy and logical titles, prevent ineffective color schemes, no rotated text, etc.).
2. Clean?- Make it visual, not overwhelming (consider proper formatting, use the right chart type, and avoid overloading the axis).
3. Concise - Display only the useful and relevant information (don’t make it too cluttered).
4. Captivating -?Does it capture attention and is it memorable? (the visualization type should fit the data and audience)

How to Master the Process

To ensure successful dashboard creation, it is essential for the person responsible to engage the intended users throughout the process, incorporating their feedback and iterating accordingly. The ultimate goal is to develop a dashboard that effectively communicates information and is readily understandable to the users. A well-designed dashboard should speak for itself. If you can send it to your teams without further explanation, then, you have mastered the process.

Something we care a lot about at BiteSteams is the drill-down capabilities and delta of various dashboards. The delta represents the difference or change between two values or periods, providing insights into the direction and extend of the change. It allows the reader to quickly identify and analyse trends and fluctuations in the data, like how KPI’s are changing over time.

By incorporating a drill-down function into dashboards, users can navigate through different levels of hierarchy, moving from higher-level summaries to more specific details. This interactive feature allows for a comprehensive exploration, enabling users to gain deeper insights and understand underlying trends and factors. Whether transitioning from regional to company-specific data or exploring individual-level information, the drill-down functionality enhances the dashboard experience by providing access to more detailed and relevant information.

Lets Take a Look at an Example

This dashboard is being used to evaluate the sales activities regarding the last 28 days. Lets assess this dashboard according to Shaffer 4C’s guideline:

Clear - Clear titles, bar chart comparability is difficult due to only putting the numbers on the axes. Also, the reference period for the delta values should be specified.

Clean - Utilised effective spacing, well-chosen colours, and minimal text. The “Win rate” visualization tool lacks clarity on the desired achievement level and delta.

Concise - KPIs are visually represented with smart sizing, yet the absence of a delta is notable in all the blue bar charts.

Captivating - Highlights the relevant KPIs effectively, but lacks insight into the underlying causes (the ‘why’).

One limitation of this dashboard is the absence of a drill-down function that would enable answering the "why" question. By incorporating clickable bar charts on the right, users would gain access to an overview of individual account managers and their respective KPIs, allowing identification of underperforming managers who require additional support.

The Benefits of good Data Visualization

Dashboards featuring appropriate visualizations offer the dual benefits of uncovering trends and patterns for improved decision-making and enhancing communication of findings with others. For founders, it is crucial to either acquire data visualization skills or collaborate with skilled individuals in order to present data in a compelling manner, whether it's to customers, prospects, or investors. By showcasing the right data in the right manner, you can gain a strong competitive advantage and maximise efficiency in utilising data compared to others.