Less Reporting, More Visualization

One simple mantra that helps create data visualizations that matter to others

There is a word that stands among the worst of all words. Hearing it causes feelings of confusion, anger, and sadness. That word is report.

I take people’s data and organize it in a visual format that helps them understand and react to their world a little better, and there are perfectly acceptable terms to describe this, such as dashboard, visualization, or visualisation if you prefer the Queen’s English. Just don’t call it a report.

A giant table jammed packed with every tidbit of info that could possibly be relevant is what I’d call a report. It makes no effort to clarify or convey a point of view. It’s more like a Rorschach test that allows each user to see only what they want to see.

Visualization, on the other hand, is an active participant in wringing the truth out of data. No analytical work is complete without it. But it’s not just an add-on at the end or a pleasant veneer to a perfectly fine set of analytics. It’s vital to how analytics are understood and perceived. Unlike reporting, visualization has a unique ability to clarify murky ideas and make connections that otherwise would have been missed.