Unlocking Data’s Potential: The Role of a Data Designer

Does your BI team need a Data Designer? If you want your reports to be clear, beautiful, and convenient, then, obviously, yes. But first, you need to substantiate the presence of such a specialist in the team. What can a data designer do that developers cannot do on their own? How exactly can they enhance the team’s efficiency? What skills should they have to be beneficial to the data project? Let’s figure this out using the Exness team as an example.

Why?

Did you know that visual language is recognized as the most effective for perceiving information? It is proved that most of the information people receive is through their eyes. To use this tool most effectively (be able to convey a message, answer important business questions, and correctly choose the type of visualization), you need to know and be able to use the laws of perception. A designer is a person whose responsibilities include understanding and working with these laws.

Product recognition is important so that users can navigate analytics faster and easier. This is solved by a unified style of reports. If the title, logo, and interactive part are located and work according to the same logic in different reports, then, opening another report, the user will already know what to focus on and how to find the answer. Therefore, a style guide is needed, which the data designer can create.

When a unified style is developed, it facilitates the life and work of new employees: it will be easier for them to understand the logic of delivery and rely on already accepted regulations, and therefore they will be able to adapt faster.

Having the laws of perception in mind, we can properly present the information and increase users’ trust in the data. This helps the BI department assist the business more effectively.

It’s just beautiful. Why invest hours of your life creating something you don’t like? A well-designed report that aligns with its goals not only has a better chance of longevity but also offers convenience and pleasure from a visual standpoint.

Can developers solve these tasks?

They can.

However, not all of them have the necessary design skills to the same extent. Moreover, they may have different opinions on what is better. Often their vision was formed in previous workplaces and differs from what is common in your company. It’s easier to agree and find the best solution when there is a data designer who can act as an expert.

Also, a data designer can do an internal review before publication, which the team usually lacks time for. This will improve the quality of projects.

In cases where a customer and developer cannot agree on design (“Make it brighter! Let’s use yellow, purple, and red for these metrics”), a data designer can find arguments why it’s worth sticking to approved design standards.

If developers have a large amount of work, the data designer can speed up the process, taking on part of the design development, so everyone can concentrate on their type of tasks.

What exactly are the responsibilities of a data designer within the BI team?

Development of design standards for all reporting in the company: style guide, templates, and all accompanying materials, such as icons, color palettes, buttons, etc.

At the stage of the project’s development: a data designer selects the type of visualization; draws mock-ups before development, and also has an opportunity to approve the view before the major work starts and save time on redoing the project; a data designer also develops additional content, if necessary.

Before publishing the project: at Exness, we have a quality and design review. Before presenting a report to customers, the developer shows it to an expert group that checks its functionality. Among the experts is a data designer, whose task is to check the report in terms of correctly selected visualizations and overall appearance: how convenient and understandable it is, and whether there is anything that can be done better.

Improve the quality of existing projects: we have established a hashtag system, through which we can track reports that require improvement. This helps to increase the efficiency and consistency of existing reports.

Moreover, a data designer can handle tasks that are usually solved by communication and graphic designers:

• Develop materials for external and internal events (workshops, meetups, competitions): presentations, websites, printed materials, and reports for participation in competitions.
• Create and maintain the Data team’s brand: logo, icons, merchandise, posters, and other materials for internal communications.
• Advertise the team’s work internally and externally.
• Assist developers in solving business tasks: infographics, buttons, and other materials for reports.

Necessary skills

Hard skills may vary from company to company, so I’d not mention anything in particular here. First and foremost, look for a person who is passionate not only about design but also loves to analyze data and is familiar with data visualization tools used in your team. This will significantly speed up processes just as happened in our team.

Thank you for reading! Please leave your ideas and questions in the comments.