Explore the different classes and career paths in data visualization. Learn about the various tools and training costs, and see how data visualization is an integral part of many industries and professions, offering a wide array of career opportunities.
Key Insights
- Data visualization uses graphics like plots, charts, or animations to represent complex data findings in an accessible format. An estimated 65% of the population comprises visual learners, making this a critical field.
- The tools required for data visualization, like Tableau Public and Python, are mostly free or available at a minimal monthly subscription cost.
- Training in data visualization varies in cost. Free and low-cost online content provides asynchronous learning options, while classes and bootcamps typically cost hundreds of dollars. Certificate study is the most expensive option, often costing several thousand dollars.
- Noble Desktop offers various in-person and live online data visualization courses providing hands-on training, including a Tableau for Data Visualization Bootcamp and a Data Analytics Certificate program.
- Individuals skilled in data visualization have a wide range of career opportunities as their skills provide crucial insights into customer preferences, demographics, and shopping patterns, amongst others, which are critical for businesses.
- Salaries for positions involving data visualization can vary greatly, with factors such as experience, industry, and geographic location playing significant roles. However, given the growing importance of data in all industries, these positions are often well-compensated.
Are you looking to learn data visualization? If so, the tools you’ll need, like Tableau Public and Python, are available for free, whereas other tools, such as Excel, Power BI, and Tableau Creator, are offered for monthly subscriptions. Beyond this, you’ll want to consider the cost of data visualization training. Various training options are currently available for those interested in visualizing data. Free and low-cost online content is available for individuals interested in asynchronous learning options. In addition, classes and bootcamps are also offered in data visualization, typically costing hundreds of dollars. The most expensive learning option is certificate study, which often costs several thousand dollars.
Read on to find out more about how much you can expect to spend on learning data visualization.
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 Training Cost
If you’re new to data visualization and want to learn more about this field, online tutorials and videos are a great place to start. Not only are many offered for free or at a minimal cost from top educational providers such as Udemy, Coursera, and Noble Desktop, but they also provide a low-stakes way to get started in this field without committing to a formal class. Because asynchronous data visualization materials are pre-recorded, it is often a much more affordable learning option than regularly meeting classes. However, self-paced data visualization study doesn’t offer access to an instructor, which means that if you have questions as you learn, you will be on your own to find answers. This learning format is great for beginner-level study, but live lessons may be a better option for those seeking more in-depth training.
For those who are interested in studying data visualization from the comfort of their own space, live online classes are an excellent learning option. Unlike asynchronous material, live online classes meet at regularly scheduled intervals. They also provide access to an expert instructor who’s leading the class and is available to answer any questions you may have about working with visualization tools. Various courses are offered in the live online format, from beginner-friendly courses devoted to data visualization to more advanced courses or bootcamps in which students learn how to perform more complex data visualization tasks. These courses typically cost several hundred dollars. Certificates are also available in the live online format. This intensive learning option generally spans several weeks or months and costs thousands of dollars. This cost often involves added perks such as one-on-one mentoring.
If you’re a student who thrives in the traditional classroom environment, in-person data visualization coursework is for you. These classes provide a productive, engaging learning environment that allows students to connect with other learners. It also provides access to a computer lab that’s already set up with the necessary software and tools. The instructor leading the course is available throughout the course to provide guidance and support and answer questions as they arise. Online courses vary in price, with data visualization bootcamps costing several hundred dollars and certificates costing thousands. Another consideration of in-person study is that it may require taking time off work to attend class and may require additional costs associated with commuting.
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.
Related Data Visualization Resources
How to Learn Data Visualization
Master data visualization with hands-on training. Data visualization
- Data Analytics Certificate at Noble Desktop: live, instructor-led course available in NYC or live online
- Find Data Visualization Classes Near You: Search & compare dozens of available courses in-person
- Attend a data visualization class live online (remote/virtual training) from anywhere
- Find & compare the best online data visualization classes (on-demand) from the top providers and platforms
- Train your staff with corporate and onsite data analytics training