Benefits, Purpose, and Importance of Data Visualization

You’ll agree when we say that poring through numbers is tedious at best and mentally exhausting at worst.

And this is where data visualization comes in.

Charts come in and distill data into meaningful insights. And this saves tons of hours, which you can use to relax or execute other tasks. Besides, when creating data stories, you need charts that communicate insights with clarity.  Note: it’s the clarity and simplicity of charts that make data stories compelling and irresistible.

It turns out there’re data visualization tools that produce charts that are simple to read and interpret. Yes, you read that right. These tools create charts that complement data stories seamlessly.

Remember, without visualizing data to extract insights, chances of getting buy-in will go down.

In this blog, we’ve rounded up tips and strategies that underscore the importance of data visualization. More so, you’ll also come across tons of good data visualization examples to simplify data storytelling techniques.

So take time and steal these golden data storytelling tips and strategies.

Importance of Data Visualization in Data Storytelling

Let’s explore why it’s difficult to decode meaning from raw numbers before we delve right into the importance of data visualization.

So why is data hard to read?

Visual communication appeals to our brains more than texts and numbers.

Tables and spreadsheets play a crucial role during data collection and macro-view analysis. However, the aforementioned is always a scratch on the surface. If you want in-depth analysis, you’ve got to think beyond tables.

And this is where visualization comes in.

Essentially, data visualization is an advanced way of communicating data to the audience. Using tables and spreadsheets to communicate data stories to audiences, such as investors and stockholders, comes at a very high cost. Wait! That’s not all.

Check out the disadvantages of using tables and spreadsheets to create data narratives for audiences:

• Tables and spreadsheets only provide numerical representation.
• Tabular data is only helpful when the size of data is small. Things start getting complicated as the size of tables and spreadsheets balloons.
• Tabular representation of data provides thin insights, such as totals, which are seldom actionable.
• Tables and spreadsheets are not as descriptive to be used in data stories.

Keep reading because the blog is loaded with tons of good data visualization examples.

Importance of Data Visualization: 5 Time-Saving and Insight-Driven Benefits

Data visualization helps you to identify trends and patterns in your business data quickly.

Our brain processes visual information, such as charts, 60,000 times faster than poring over spreadsheets and data reports.

Visualization is a quick and easy way to convey insights to a broader audience. Make data visualization a habit in your organization to enjoy the benefits below:

1. Quick and Better Analysis

Visualization tools make it amazingly easy for you to extract answers from your data to create compelling stories for investors.

Imagine using the tables and spreadsheets to explain emerging patterns and other significant insights to your audience. How would they respond? Would you get buy-in after presenting the table to them?

2. Empowers Quick Action

Our brains grasp visual content, such as graphs and maps, 60,000 times faster than table reports, as we said earlier.

And this means a compelling data story loaded with easy to interpret charts can empower quicker decision-making.

3. Identifying Patterns and Trends

Bulky data provides unlimited opportunities for businesses to extract actionable insights. Yes, insights that could spell the difference between you and competition.

Visualizing data helps pinpoint relationships and patterns between metrics. Exploring these patterns enables you to save immense resources, such as time, by focusing only on areas that need urgent action.

4. Finding Errors

Data visualization helps you spot errors in the data easily. Working with error-free data validates the accuracy of the insights extracted.

We hope you see the importance of data visualization.

5. Data Storytelling

The reason why we visualize data is to create data stories. Remember, poring over numbers in spreadsheets is monotonous, especially if you’re in front of an audience.

So you need to create a compelling story with insights extracted from the raw data. People love stories. Yes, and this is because they appeal to emotions.

To craft a compelling data story, you need an actual story.

It sounds contradictory. Yes, we know.

To create a narrative, start by asking a question or forming a hypothesis. And then, dig into your data to find answers.

Below are some of the questions you need to ask:

• What are you going to explain? 
• What are your goals? 
• Are you after a buy-in on a proposal?

Remember, visualization comes before you create a data story.

We hope you’re noting the importance of data visualization, especially in creating data narratives. 

Let’s take a look at good data visualization examples below. Keep reading if you intend to take your data storytelling skills to the next level.

Importance of Data Visualization in Various Sectors

• Energy and Material Flow Management

Visualization plays a significant role in helping in communicating insights in the energy sector.

Check out a good data visualization example below:

Imagine you’ve been tasked by the Energy Commission of a hypothetical country to analyze their gigantic data. They want to know various details about domestic energy consumption, namely:

• The contribution of each energy-generating source
• The amount of energy lost
• The energy contribution of cleaner and greener sources
• Typical uses of energy by consumer segments (commercial versus domestic use)

The Energy Commission wants a data story to use for the forthcoming launch of their 10-year Plan. We’ve used this example to spotlight the importance of data visualization.

The table below has the sample data we’ll use for the scenario above.

Note: the table below is pretty long to show you the immense power visualization, especially when handling gigantic data sets.

Apologies in advance if you find the table below weirdly long.

Energy Type	Main Source	Source type	Energy Source	Usage	End-User	Mega Watt
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	5
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	7.3
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	5.1
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	3.7
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	4.9
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	2
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	7.2
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	5.4
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	6.7
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	4.8
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	7.4
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	2.5
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	0.7
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	0.5
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	0.9
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	0.5
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	0.8
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	0.6
Land-based bioenergy	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	1.3
Land-based bioenergy	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	2.5
Land-based bioenergy	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	3.2
Land-based bioenergy	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	0.7
Land-based bioenergy	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	1.4
Land-based bioenergy	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	0.9
Biomass import	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	0.4
Biomass import	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	0.7
Biomass import	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	0.8
Biomass import	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	0.3
Biomass import	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	0.6
Biomass import	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	0.2
Nuclear reserves	Nuclear Plant	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	50
Nuclear reserves	Nuclear Plant	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	13
Nuclear reserves	Nuclear Plant	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	8
Nuclear reserves	Nuclear Plant	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	6
Nuclear reserves	Nuclear Plant	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	11
Nuclear reserves	Nuclear Plant	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	4
Coal reserves	Coal	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	4.7
Coal reserves	Coal	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	3.1
Coal reserves	Coal	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	4.2
Coal reserves	Coal	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	0.7
Coal reserves	Coal	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	4.8
Coal reserves	Coal	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	0.5
Gas reserves	Natural Gas	Gas	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	5.1
Gas reserves	Natural Gas	Gas	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	8.4
Gas reserves	Natural Gas	Gas	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	7.9
Gas reserves	Natural Gas	Gas	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	4.8
Gas reserves	Natural Gas	Gas	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	7.3
Gas reserves	Natural Gas	Gas	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	3.5

Note the power of visualization. The super-gigantic table with energy data has been distilled into the insightful chart below.

Visualization Source: ChartExpo

So what are the insights?

A huge chunk of the country’s energy comes from nuclear sources (41%).

You can read more about energy flow visualization with Sankey diagram here.

• Education Sector

Like in the energy sector, data visualization plays a critical role in the education sector, especially in communicating actionable insights to key stakeholders.

Take a look at a good data visualization example below:

The example you’ll come across will underscore the importance of visualization in this sector.

Imagine you run a school and you want to compare the performance of three teachers, namely:

• Justin
• Tim
• Grace

Essentially, you want to use their score in various key performance indicators: knowledge, punctuality, helpfulness, effectiveness, and delivery for promotion. We’ve used this example to highlight the importance of data visualization.

Let’s use the tabular data below for the scenario above.

Teacher	Quality	Score
Justin	Knowledge	2.7
Justin	Punctual	4.6
Justin	Helpful	3.7
Justin	Effectiveness	4.9
Justin	Delivery	3.9
Tim	Knowledge	3.7
Tim	Punctual	3.2
Tim	Helpful	4.9
Tim	Effectiveness	4.1
Tim	Delivery	2.8
Grace	Knowledge	4.7
Grace	Punctual	4.5
Grace	Helpful	3.8
Grace	Effectiveness	2.5
Grace	Delivery	3.7

Check out the insightful chart below. Note how it’s easy to extract valuable insights.

For instance, none of the teachers have a good score for delivery.

Visualization Source: ChartExpo

Note we’ve used ChartExpo to generate the insightful and easy-to-interpret chart above.

Keep reading because we’ll explain how you can get this tool for free in the later sections.

You can use charts to extract insights from survey data as well. Take a look at the good data visualization example below.

Imagine you’ve just conducted a survey in a university. You want to know how the students perceive the university brand in aspects, such as mode of teaching and courses offered. We’ve used this example to spotlight the importance of data visualization.

Let’s use the table below for our scenario.

Questions	Rating	Count
How do you rate the courses taught in your university?	1	130
How do you rate the courses taught in your university?	2	1123
How do you rate the courses taught in your university?	3	1293
How do you rate the courses taught in your university?	4	1.391
How do you rate the courses taught in your university?	5	1339
How do you rate the teaching staff and their teaching method?	1	140
How do you rate the teaching staff and their teaching method?	2	1168
How do you rate the teaching staff and their teaching method?	3	1242
How do you rate the teaching staff and their teaching method?	4	1286
How do you rate the teaching staff and their teaching method?	5	1302
How do you rate the facilities provided by the university?	1	120
How do you rate the facilities provided by the university?	2	1203
How do you rate the facilities provided by the university?	3	1212
How do you rate the facilities provided by the university?	4	1351
How do you rate the facilities provided by the university?	5	1424
How do you rate the variety of food items available in the cafeteria?	1	110
How do you rate the variety of food items available in the cafeteria?	2	985
How do you rate the variety of food items available in the cafeteria?	3	1403
How do you rate the variety of food items available in the cafeteria?	4	1428
How do you rate the variety of food items available in the cafeteria?	5	1510

This chart provides in-depth insights into the massive table you’ve just skipped to reach here. Note how colors have been used strategically to create a clear distinction in variable differences.

Visualization Source: ChartExpo

So what are the insights?

Food items available in the cafeteria have the lowest score (2.4/5). Besides, the overall brand perception of the university has (2.5/5).

Note we’ve used ChartExpo to generate the insightful and easy-to-interpret chart below.

Keep reading because you don’t want to miss more tips that underscore the importance of data visualization, especially in healthcare.

• Use in Healthcare

Health practitioners will tell you the importance of data visualization without mincing words.

Data visualization is revolutionizing the sector, especially in the decision-making process. Health facilities are increasingly using data models to plan for resource allocation and mitigate losses.

Take a look at the example below.

Imagine a US Governor has tasked you to provide insights into children’s diseases affecting his state. Essentially, the Governor wants to know the prevalent disease affecting children each month of the year for efficient resource allocation.

The main diseases you’ll focus on are listed below:

• Chickenpox
• Whooping cough
• Measles
• Rotavirus
• Tetanus
• Hepatitis B

Let’s use the table below for our scenario.

This example underscores the importance of data visualization in the healthcare sector.

Months	Chickenpox	Whooping cough	Measles	Rotavirus	Tetanus	Hepatitis B
1	168	187	159	51	247	229
2	66	77	136	199	87	159
3	81	148	69	101	217	125
4	144	206	163	121	189	67
5	46	230	231	149	84	228
6	162	113	20	183	90	147
7	33	37	234	95	239	243
8	12	209	217	105	67	128
9	144	23	84	224	212	114
10	157	25	189	13	199	252
11	28	15	34	100	203	171
12	190	202	247	183	85	105

The insightful chart below is a good data visualization example. Note how this chart is easy to read and interpret.

Visualization Source: ChartExpo

So what are the insights?

Measles is the leading outbreak among children in the state in May and December.

Chickenpox remained least in August and November. October is least affected by Rotavirus and October is the Month in which maximum hepatitis cases were reported.

Now that you’ve learned about the importance of data visualization: let’s delve into the best tools to use.

The Best Tool to Use to Visualize Your Data In Google Sheets

Google Sheets is one of the most used tools for visualizing data. And this is because it’s free and easy to use. However, it lacks charts that can make your data story compelling.

This is where the ChartExpo add-on comes in. Use this tool to supercharge your Google Sheets to create irresistible data stories.

This premium visualization tool comes with a 7-day free trial period. Besides, it’s a drag and drop tool you can use to create a compelling narrative using data reports, maps, dashboards, etc.

ChartExpo empowers you to visualize diverse data types, such as sales and marketing data, annual reports, monthly reports, office productivity data, investor slide decks, etc.

The main benefit of ChartExpo is that it produces charts that are easy to read and interpret. 

Besides, you don’t need to be skilled in coding or programming. You just need to scroll your mouse to produce incredibly insightful charts that complement your data story seamlessly.

ChartExpo allows you to save charts in the world’s most recognized formats, namely PNG and JPG. You can easily attach your charts to Google Sheets and Excel.

This easy-to-use and highly affordable tool come with 50-plus charts, including Column, Line, Bar, Donut, Area, Scatter Plots, Sankey, NPS, and Sentiment charts, among others.

Benefits of ChartExpo

• ChartExpo add-in for Excel comes with a free 7-day trial.
• Essentially, if you’re not satisfied with the tool within a week, you can opt out as quickly as signing up for a trial.
• The number of paying users after the trial period is a staggering 80%.And this means that ChartExpo does not disappoint.
• ChartExpo add-in is ONLY $10 a month after the end of the trial period.
• You have a 100% guarantee that your computer or Chrome browser application won’t be slowed down.
• You can export your insightful, easy-to-read, and intuitive charts in JPEG and PNG, the world’s most-used formats for sharing images.

FAQs:

How important is data visualization?

Data visualization is useful for data monitoring, exploring data structure, detecting outliers and unusual groups, identifying trends and clusters, spotting patterns, and presenting actionable results. There’re tons of good data visualization examples, such as Bar graphs and Sankey, you can use to create irresistible data stories.

How is data visualization helpful in business analytics?

Compelling data visualizations allow both analysts and decision-makers to examine gigantic amounts of data for actionable insights quickly. Remember, data on its own is not adequate for a growing business.

Ignore the importance of data visualization, especially in business, at your own risk.

Wrap up

Like we said earlier, data without a chart is pretty voiceless.

The statement above underscores the importance of data visualization in almost all sectors.

If you want to make your data story persuasive, then explore good data visualization examples we’ve rounded up for you. (Please refer back to the blog).

Data is only valid when it provides actionable insights to fuel growth and revenue in businesses.

This blog has tons of golden tips you can leverage to transform your raw data into actionable answers for the decision-making process. We recommend the ChartExpo add-in for Excel because it comes with a plethora of creative and interactive charts that are easy to read and interpret.

With ChartExpo, you have unlimited access to over 50 creative chart templates to ensure you’ve got everything you need to create that irresistible data story.

Sign up today to create data stories that attract instant buy-in from the audience.