Data Visualization Cost

If you are interested in learning data visualization, many of the tools and software you will need are available for a relatively low cost. Tableau Public is offered for free, Power BI Pro costs $9/user/month, You can download Python for free, and Microsoft Excel is available starting at $6/user/month.

What is Data Visualization?

Data visualization uses graphics like plots, charts, or animations to represent data findings. These visual depictions communicate complicated data relationships in an accessible and engaging format and have a range of applications for sharing data-driven insights with an organization’s internal and external stakeholders. Because an estimated 65% of the population comprises visual learners, data visualization provides a way to quickly and effectively convey data findings. Even though data visualization takes many forms, it shares the common goal of communicating otherwise complex data insights in a memorable and understandable way, even for those who don’t come from a technical background.

Each day, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are being created, which continues to grow exponentially. This increase in the amount of data has created a corresponding need for visualization practices to share the insights these numbers contain. Data visualization has a variety of uses across industries and professions. It has applications for describing trends or patterns hidden in data and communicating organizational structures or hierarchies. The data visualization process is typically broken into four purposes: to generate ideas, to illustrate concepts, to provide avenues into visual discovery, and to convey data in the form of visualizations.

Read more about what data visualization is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Data Visualization?

Those with the skills to create engaging and effective data visualizations have the power to communicate detailed data insights and findings to audience members from all backgrounds. Data visualizations provide a concise and interactive way to depict data trends. Visualizations incorporate color and contrast to present information like sales patterns so that audience members can quickly observe information that may be difficult to see from a graph or spreadsheet. In addition, another benefit of working with data visualizations is that they can provide perspective on the data by placing it in the context of a larger story, which can help audience members understand the information as it relates to an organization’s overall goals or bottom line. Context plays an integral role in helping audiences understand the entirety of the data being depicted, which would be difficult to convey by listing numbers in a table.

Data visualization also provides a better understanding of a business’s operations. Running a business requires staying on top of many moving parts, and data visualizations provide a tool that can depict multifaceted operations and how different business activities connect. Moreover, analyzing and visualizing data provides insights into important business metrics that can lead to smoother daily operations and more successful project execution. For organizations that sell products or services to customers, data visualizations offer crucial insights into customers’ preferences, demographics, and shopping patterns. They provide a way for organizations to use customer-focused data to explore brand perception, customer sentiments, and even what customers post about the product or service on social media outlets. Businesses can then use these insights to tailor marketing strategies and brand outreach.

In addition to providing customer insights and depicting important trends in the data, visualizations also tell a story. Information is presented in an easy-to-understand format, and the audience is taken on a journey that leads to an inevitable, data-driven conclusion. Just like a written story, a visual story has a strong beginning, a basic plot, and an ending that looks into the future, providing recommendations for how to move forward. Instead of requiring tens of thousands of words to tell this story, data visualizations can do so with a series of well-placed infographics, carefully worded labels, and brief descriptions of the content, all of which tell the story of data in the larger context of an organization’s needs and goals. 

In-Depth Review of the Cost

The cost associated with learning data visualization depends on the tools you choose to analyze and visualize data. Since data visualization is a broad category, you have many options when deciding which products suit your professional visualization needs. The core tools many Data Analysts work with for visualizing data are Microsoft Excel, Python, Tableau, and Power BI. The following is a breakdown of the costs associated with each:

• Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet application. Since its debut in 1985, Excel has remained very popular for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data. If you want to download Excel, you can choose from different plans, ranging in price from $6/user/month for Microsoft 365 Basic to $22/user/month for Microsoft 365 Premium. In addition, a free Excel trial is also offered by Microsoft.
• Python is a popular programming language with applications for data analytics and visualization. This free language also has a variety of free libraries that help users create engaging data visualization, such as Plotly, Matplotlib, Seaborn, and Ggplot. 
• Tableau is a versatile tool for data analytics, data visualization, and business intelligence tasks. This popular software has applications creating customized visualizations that help audience members access important data findings, like correlations, patterns, or trends, in a visual manner. In terms of cost, Tableau Creator is $70/month/user, which includes Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep Builder, and a Creator license for either Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud. A free trial is also offered. In addition, Tableau Public is a free platform for creating and sharing data visualizations with others who are part of Tableau’s online community. It’s also the largest repository of data visualizations on the planet.

• Microsoft Power BI is another interactive tool you may consider for data analysis and visualization. This collection of connectors, software services, and apps also allows users to share their data findings with others. Power BI users can use this tool to transform unrelated data sources into coherent and valuable insights for the organization. Microsoft offers different Power BI price plans, ranging in price from $9.99/user/month for Power BI Pro to $4,995/capacity/month for Power BI Premium.

Why Learn Data Visualization?

Learning to visualize data findings and present them in a way that’s accessible to different audience members is an in-demand skill across industries and professions. We live in an increasingly visual culture, and the human eye is naturally drawn to patterns and colors. Data visualization tools provide a way to engage audience members and communicate an important message at the same time. By seeing information depicted in colorful plots or charts, it’s easy to spout outliers and patterns, as well as to identify trends. This makes it possible for audience members to internalize data findings more easily.

Data visualization is considered to be a form of visual storytelling. It offers an interactive format in which professionals can easily share information, explore opportunities, and examine past patterns or relationships to make educated forecasts about what may transpire. Whether the data visualization is basic or complex, it helps audience members be on the same page regardless of their level of expertise or background working with big data. Because of how widespread data visualization is in every industry, it’s one of the most valuable skills you can have in your professional toolbelt. Those with the ability to tell compelling, engaging data-driven stories with their visualizations have the power to educate and even sway audience members with the insights they find.

Read more about why you should learn data visualization. 

Free Introductory Data Visualization Course Online 

If you’re looking for an overview of data visualization rather than a time-intensive course, you can start learning to visualize data for free online. Noble Desktop offers a free data science webinar, which provides 80 minutes of instruction on the various applications of Python in the field of data science. Participants also receive a general overview of the field of data science, including the various skills required to be a Data Scientist and how to apply them to real-world data. This beginner-friendly video is a great first step for learners before they dive into a data science class or certificate program.

In addition to Noble’s free data science webinar, other top educational providers offer free beginner-friendly content on visualizing data. edX’s Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel prepares learners to perform data analysis using Excel features. Students also receive instructions on creating PivotTables. Those interested in learning how to create data visualizations with Microsoft Power BI can enroll in Udemy’s Data Visualization with Power BI, which teaches learners how to create reports to convey data findings. Coursera’s Data Visualization is another free learning option. Participants in this 15-hour class receive instruction on data mining and pattern-based data classification.

Read more about free data visualization videos and online tutorials. 

Learn Data Visualization with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

If you’re interested in studying data visualization, Noble Desktop offers several in-person and live online courses that provide hands-on training. For those who wish to work with Tableau for visualizing data, Noble’s Tableau for Data Visualization Bootcamp is an excellent option. Participants receive an overview of the field of data visualization and learn about Tableau Public’s visualization tools. By course completion, students will have a solid understanding of identifying which datasets to connect to and how to analyze, filter, and organize data to make customized, publishable visualizations. This course also offers the option of a free retake for those interested in revisiting Tableau concepts. 

Noble’s in-person or live online Data Analytics Certificate is another good learning option for those seeking a more intensive study option. This rigorous program provides expert instruction on various data analytics concepts and prepares learners to become Business Analysts or Data Analysts. By course completion, all participants will be familiar with core business intelligence, statistical analysis, data analysis, and data visualization concepts. This is a project-based course in which students will complete various real-world projects using prescriptive and predictive analytics. All students receive one-on-one mentoring as part of tuition.

In addition, other in-person and live online data visualization courses are also available from Noble Desktop. Those who wish to learn the tools to become Data Scientists may consider enrolling in Noble’s Data Science Certificate, which covers machine learning, automation, SQL, and Python. A Python for Data Science Bootcamp covers fundamental and complex Python programming concepts, such as creating programs and using statistics to make machine learning models. 

The Excel Bootcamp is also available, which teaches core spreadsheet functions like working with macros, formulas, and PivotTables. Finally, those interested in working with SQL to extract information from databases can enroll in Noble’s SQL Bootcamp. This course prepares learners to write queries, aggregate data, and filter results using Postgre SQL.