What to Learn After Data Visualization

Data visualization is the practice of representing data findings using graphs, charts, or diagrams. It can be used as a reporting tool to share data insights with others. If you already know how to use data visualization, you might consider learning machine learning or working with a programming language such as SQL or R. We’ll cover these skills below, so you have a clear understanding of what skill you want to tackle next. 

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. 

What to Learn Once You Know how to Visualize Data

Once you’ve mastered data visualization, you may consider learning about machine learning, as well as SQL and R, to take your data analytics skills to the next level:

Machine Learning

Machine learning is a branch of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) that works with data and algorithms to mimic the learning process in humans. In doing so, it can improve its accuracy. Machine learning plays an integral role in data science. By incorporating various statistical methods, algorithms can be trained to make predictions and classifications, which can help users to extract important insights from data mining projects. Often, these findings are used to propel the decision-making process at an organization and impact its growth metrics. 

Most AI programs currently deployed by businesses use machine learning technology, meaning these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Machine learning is growing in popularity. A study by Deloitte in 2020 indicated that over two-thirds of organizations were using machine learning technology, and 97% intended to incorporate it in 2021. One of the main incentives for an organization to apply machine learning is that it can quickly create models capable of analyzing larger and more complex data and delivering accurate results.

SQL

Structured query language (SQL) plays a vital role in the data analytics process. It’s used to access, organize, and analyze vast volumes of data so insights can be uncovered. SQL is commonly used for collecting and organizing data found in relational or multidimensional databases. This language also has applications for creating new databases or tables, updating, inserting, or deleting database records, and establishing various permissions on procedures, tables, and views. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how SQL can help with data analytics, Noble Desktop’s in-person and live online SQL Bootcamp is a great learning opportunity. This hands-on course covers using PostgreSQL to extract meaningful information from databases, write SQL queries, and join tables. 

R Programming

R is a popular programming language for statistical computing and graphics. This language includes a range of statistical techniques, including clustering, linear modeling, time-series analysis, and classification. R is handy for creating high-quality plots that contain mathematical symbols and formulas. An excellent way to learn how to use R is to enroll in Noble Desktop’s Data Analytics with R Bootcamp. Participants receive expert training on how to apply R to different statistical analyses and how to build user interfaces and visualizations determined by users’ preferences. 

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.

Key Insights

• The field of data visualization involves using graphical depictions of data to help individuals understand the context of the data, understand its significance, and quickly spot data patterns, trends, and outliers.
• Data visualization is a popular field across industries. Those who know how to visualize data better understand how the business as a whale operates and can visually depict how the organization’s various business activities connect to each other.
• If you’ve already learned how to visualize data, you may consider exploring other related topics that can help you perform data analytics tasks more efficiently, such as working with SQL and R programming or studying machine learning techniques.
• Noble Desktop’s in-person and live online data visualization courses are a great way to help you learn more about presenting data findings in a visually engaging manner.