DVT UNIT-3

Defining an Easy-to-Follow Storyboard

Chapter overview:
Storytelling through data visualization is a highly effective way to engage audiences, especially
as attention spans decrease. Complex reports that require deep analysis are losing relevance,
making it crucial to develop the right story. This chapter provides an overview of using data
visualizations to support decision-making and walks through the steps to define your first
storyboard. It covers identifying the audience, documenting key measures, and arranging these
measures into a visual storyboard using proven methodologies and templates.
Business Intelligence Overview:
Business Intelligence (BI) is a multi-billion-dollar industry that focuses on building and using
analytics reports and data visualizations (such as dashboards) to drive decision-making in
organizations. BI involves creating any type of data visualization that provides insights to
support business decisions or actions. Whether you've been building or consuming reports or
dashboards, you've likely been part of the BI industry. BI is important for two main reasons in
the data visualization arena:
● BI drives industry trends: Trends in BI influence trends in many other areas, such as
Big Data, mobility, social collaboration, and the cloud. These trends affect you as a data
visualization consumer or creator, so it's important that you stay abreast of trends in the
Bl industry. These trends affect how data visualizations are consumed, interacted with,
and used to gain insights.
● BI drives the evolution of data visualization tools: The BI industry is very competitive,
and chances are that any tool you choose for building your data visualization will be
classified as a BI tool. On one hand, this competition among different software vendors to
build the ultimate tool works to everyone's benefit. It drives innovation that focuses on
case-of-use, better insight, and lower cost. On the other hand, the choice of tools is
becoming so extensive that it's sometimes hard to decide on the best tool for the job.
Consider the most widely used BI tool in the world: Microsoft Excel. Some members of
the BI industry suggest that Excel, despite its wide adoption, is the most dangerous and
least effective tool available. It's important to understand that the evolution of new
software in this industry directly affects what types of tools are available to you.
After you have selected the right Bl tools, it's time to develop a storyboard that will help you
display the data. Throughout the rest of the chapter, we discuss the steps you need to take to set
up your storyboard.
Delving Into Your Story:
In the context of data visualization, it refers to the process of going beyond just presenting data.
It involves crafting a narrative that helps the audience understand the significance and insights
hidden within the data. When you "delve into your story," you're guiding the viewer or reader
through a meaningful interpretation of the data, showing not just what the data says but also
why it matters.
Key Components of "Delving into Your Story":
1. Understanding the Data: Before you can tell a story, you need to thoroughly understand
the data you're working with. This includes:

● Identifying key patterns and trends: What are the significant changes or recurring
themes in the data?
● Discovering relationships: How do different data points relate to each other? Are there
any correlations or causations?

2. Identify Your Audience:

● Who Will See It?: Start by figuring out who your audience is. Are they C-level executives
(like CEOs or CFOs) who need a big-picture view, or senior managers who want more
detailed information?
● Tailor to Their Needs: Once you know your audience, think about what they care about
most. Make sure your storyboard includes information that speaks to their interests and
needs. For example, executives might want to see overall business performance, while
managers might be more interested in specific team metrics.

3. Document the Audience’s Goals:

● Understand Their Objectives: Find out what your audience wants to achieve.
Understanding their goals will help you focus your storyboard on what really matters.
 ● Align with Pain Points: Consider any challenges or issues your audience is facing. Make
sure your storyboard addresses these pain points. For instance, if managers are struggling
to meet sales targets, highlight relevant data that shows trends or opportunities for
improvement.

4. Define the Audience’s KPIs:

● Identify Key Performance Indicators: Determine which key performance indicators

(KPIs) are most important for your audience. These are the specific metrics they will use
to measure success. For example, if your audience is focused on sales, relevant KPIs
might include total sales revenue, number of new customers, or sales growth rate.
● Keep It Simple: Don’t overload your storyboard with too many KPIs. Choose a few
(ideally, fewer than ten) that are the most relevant to your audience’s goals. This makes it
easier for them to quickly understand the important information without getting
overwhelmed.

5. Ensuring Accuracy and Objectivity: While telling your story, it's crucial to remain
accurate and avoid distorting the data to fit a narrative. Misrepresenting data to make a point
can lead to incorrect conclusions or a loss of trust from the audience.

6. Providing Context: Data often needs context to be fully understood. Delving into the story
means explaining:

● Why this data matters: What’s the bigger picture?

● What external factors might influence the data: Are there market trends, external
events, or other datasets that should be considered?

Building Your First Storyboard:

A storyboard serves as a blueprint for your visualization, outlining the key elements and steps
necessary to communicate the story behind your data. By following a structured approach,like
the BIDF method,where the process becomes more straightforward.The BIDF (Business
Intelligence Dashboard Formula) is a structured method for creating effective data
visualizations that tell a clear story. It breaks down complex data into four main sections—
Current State, Trends, Forecast, and What-If.

1. Current State: "Where Are You Now?": This is the starting point of your story. In this
section, the focus is on presenting the current situation based on available data. It answers the
question: Where is the business or process standing today?

● Objective: Provide an overview of current performance using key metrics.

● Visualization Type: Simple charts such as bar charts, line graphs, or summary tables can
be used to represent the current state.
● Example: For a sales dashboard, the current state might show current sales figures,
revenue trends, or other performance indicators.

2. Trends: "How Did You Get Here?": Explains how the business reached its current
state by looking at historical data. It reveals the patterns and factors that led to the current
performance.

● Objective: Show the path taken to reach the present scenario, revealing underlying
causes of success or failure.
● Visualization Type: Line graphs for trends over time, scatter plots for relationships, and
heat maps for identifying areas of activity.
● Example: Displaying quarterly sales trends over the last year, showing which periods
were strong or weak and linking them to marketing efforts or external factors.

3. Forecast: "Where Will You End Up?": In this section, you move from understanding the
past and present to predicting the future. This involves using data to forecast where the current
trends are leading. The forecast provides a data-driven projection of what might happen if
current trends continue.

● Objective: Project future outcomes based on historical data and current performance.
● Visualization Type: Forecasting graphs, linear progression lines, or predictive models.
● Example: A sales forecast based on current trends, showing predicted revenue for the
next quarter if no changes are made.
 4. What-If: "What Can You Change to Achieve or Your Goals?": The final section of the
storyboard allows for scenario planning. What-If analysis lets you play with different options
to see what could happen if you make changes and the impact on future outcomes. This gives
users an actionable way to see how they can change the future by making adjustments now.

● Objective: Explore potential strategies or changes that can improve future outcomes.
● Visualization Type: What-if analysis tools, interactive dashboards with sliders or filters
to simulate different scenarios.
● Example: Showing how increasing the marketing budget by 10% could result in a 15%
increase in sales, or how a change in product pricing might impact profits.

DEVELOPING A CLEAR MOCK-UP

Mocks-ups are also referred to as wireframes or prototypes. Think of them as rough sketches that
help you visualize what the final output will look like.

GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR MOCK-UP:

Mico learned the hard way that working with users to develop anything visual is like handing
candy to a baby. Without some guidance and hand-holding, users can’t help but over indulge in
color and chart changes. They lose focus and miss the opportunity to effectively display the story
their data is trying to tell.

> Mock-ups are particularly important in the Big Data visualization process for two reasons:

They help accelerate the overall design discussion and process with the users. It’s much
easier to change a sketch of the data than it is to change the final model.

They help users understand the look, feel and functionality of the final data visualization.
Mock-ups help to prevent any cosmetic surprises for the users when they see the final data
visualization.

In the Big Data Visualization world, visuals are made for data not data for visualizations.
STICKING TO BLACK AND WHITE:

1) If you start the mock-up process with color, your users won’t focus on anything else –
not on the data, on the layout, or even on whether the message is being conveyed correctly.
The color discussion will become the focal point of the entire mock-up process and your final
data visualization will suffer.

2) By using mock-ups without color, you force users to focus on what you need them to
focus on. Your goal at this stage is to get participants to sign off on the layout of your mock-
up.

3) We always tell the users that color will be added as the last step, but we need them to
focus on the layout before they can get to the fun stuff.

BENEFITS:

1) Saves time and money when making changes: It’s less expensive to make design
modifications on a black and white sketch than it is to make changes on a system- ready
visualization connected to live data.

2) Keeps the focus on the placement, position, and size of each element on the
visualization.

USING GOOD OLD PENCIL AND PAPER:

Although software is available for doing just about everything, including drawing your mock-
ups, don’t overlook the good old pencil and paper approach.

BENEFITS:

Low cost. A few sheets of white paper, a pack of pencils, and a big eraser will set you back $10
at most, although it's likely that you already have most of these items in your possession.

Recent No learning curve. You can just pick up a pencil and start drawing. You don't need to
learn how to use a toolbar or menu options in software.
More creative freedom for newbies. It would be great if we were all blessed with graphic
design skills. We're sure that you'd love to know how to use advanced graphics tools like Adobe
Photoshop to whip up any visualization you desire. But most of us have no formal design
training and need to stick to the basics.Pencil and paper provide the freedom to be as creative as
you want without being hampered by a keyboard, mouse, or annoying pop-ups on the screen.

Here are a few arguments against using pencil and paper:

Sharing can be difficult. You won't have convenient options for sharing your mock-up to
collaborate with your users or get their feedback.

Paper pages are often too small to share with a large audience. Even big sheets of paper may
be hard for everyone to see at once.

Paper lacks security. To ensure the highest level of security, most organizations encourage their
employees to embrace a digital lifestyle. Doing nightly backups on employees' PCs enables the
company to minimize the impact of a disaster. Having a paper trail with no backup is asking for
an accident. Based on some embarrassing experiences, we've exchanged some of our pencil-and-
paper habits for more web-based ones.

Using web-based or desktop tools. Although this market is still maturing, using a software-
based tool to do your mock-up can be quite beneficial for several reasons:

It's easy to get feedback. Collecting feedback on your mock-up is easy when you use online or
web-based tools. Most applications provide multiple options that allow you to export mock-ups
in the form of PDF or image files. You can send these files to your users electronically to get
their feedback.

Inviting collaborators is simple on the web. Knowledge sharing and collaboration are vital
parts of the mock-up process. By hosting mock-ups on the web, you can invite co-workers and
other team members to provide their input or feedback.
You save time when making modifications. The beauty of using software is that you can easily
save old and new versions of your model for comparison purposes. Then it's easy to incorporate
users' feedback and present updated mock-ups.

You can build a reusable library. One much-overlooked benefit is the ability to create a
library of template mock-ups that you can save and then reuse for future products. Templates
save time, and it's much easier to start with a previous mock-up than it is to start with a blank
canvas.

Most software tools are free or inexpensive. Most tools on the market today are free to
individual users for a specified number of mock-ups. If you want to invite more collaborators or
have multiple projects running at the same time, the most sophisticated web tools cost anywhere
from $5 to $100 per month for use by an entire team.

Building Template Layouts:

Whether you've chosen to use pencil and paper or a software mock-up tool, the good news is that
you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Building and using templates is the quickest and smartest
way to approach designing your mock-ups.

The elements shown in Figure make up your first mock-up template. Each element corresponds
to one of the following steps:
 1. Start with a frame: Start by drawing a simple, square frame. Think of this frame as being
the home of all your data visualization elements.
2. Determine where to place the logo: Company branding is a top priority for most
organizations. We recommend placing your logo in the top-right or top-left corner of your
frame. Although some people argue that placement in the bottom-left corner of the frame
works well, we prefer to place elements such as logos at the top.
3. Add a title: The title of your mock-up is very important and should be housed in the top-
right corner or center of your frame. The title is the first thing that most users will see, and you
want to make it very clear what they're viewing.
4. Provide a help menu section: You may want to include a set of help buttons in your data
visualization. Some of the most popular options include
● Print button: Allows users to print the data viz from their devices as needed
● Reset button: Allows users to start from the beginning
● Help button: Provides helpful information about the data viz
● FAQ button: Provides information about various aspects of the data viz
5. Add a navigation area: The easiest way to tackle this section is to think about your three
favorite websites. The navigation elements of those sites are probably along the top, on the left
side, or in both places. Because users read in a backward Z pattern, these areas are the most
effective places for any navigational menus.
6. Add a copyright line: This line usually goes at the bottom of the data visualization to
ensure that users see that the work is copyrighted.
Now that you've included the main elements, it's time to decide on a layout to display your data
elements.Your layout is the body of your mock-up, where the visualizations are housed.

Adding Functionality and Applying Color

Recognizing the Human Components:

As compelling mobile apps continue to evolve, user expectations are at an all-time high. Gone
are the days when apps could survive based simply on their usefulness. In the app world,
having an attractive and intuitive user interface (UI) is a do-or-die proposition. In the data-viz
world, a nice UI has typically been considered to be something that is nice to have, but that
school of thought is changing. No matter how great the data is, if your data-viz UI is not user
friendly then no one will use it.

In data visualization, recognizing human components is essential for creating user-friendly and
effective interfaces. Human components refer to the elements that make the visualization
intuitive, engaging, and easy for users to interact with. These components ensure that users
can access and understand the data without unnecessary complications. Here’s how you can
recognize and apply human components in data visualizations:

Humanizing Visualizations: To humanize data visualizations, certain design principles should

be followed:

● Simple Navigation: Clear and straightforward navigation is crucial. Imagine if a car’s

window controls were placed in the trunk — it would be frustrating to use. Similarly, a
data visualization with complicated menus or controls frustrates users, leading them to
stop using it. A well-designed navigation system guides users smoothly to their data
without confusion.
● Effective Use of Colors: Color plays a significant role in how users perceive a
visualization. Although personal preferences for color may vary, using best practices for
color schemes (e.g., ensuring color contrast and accessibility) makes data easier to
interpret. For example, avoid using overly bright colors that may cause discomfort to the
viewer, and use consistent color schemes for similar data points.
● Intuitive Images and Visual Cues: Incorporating images and icons that are easy to
understand helps users navigate the data. Visual cues, like arrows or icons, can guide
users toward important information, improving their experience. Research shows that
people are naturally drawn to images (like on social media platforms), so adding simple,
intuitive images enhances user engagement.

Thinking mobile first: Here are a few benefits of building mobile visualizations first:

● The desktop is included. If you focus on building your data visualization for a mobile
environment, it will certainly be usable on a desktop. Being forced to use a 7-inch screen
(the size of most tablets) to display Big Data limits what can and can't be shown in your
 data viz. You don't have enough real estate on mobile devices to show everything,
hence, you'll be forced to focus on what's needed in the 7-inch display most tablets.
Because most desktop screens tend to be bigger than 14 inches, anything that you design
for a tablet will likely fit on any desktop as well.
● It forces simplicity. Another benefit of having limited real estate for your data viz is
simplicity. A 7-inch screen can only hold one or two visuals at any given time before
scrolling is required. Scrolls or swipes should be limited to two to three to avoid the risk
of losing the user. This limit equates to a maximum of six visuals per data viz.
● It encourages easy user access and collaboration. If you build a house, but it doesn't
show up on GPS, visitors will have a problem finding where you live. The same is true
of data visualizations. If you don't make your data visualizations accessible on the
devices people use most, don't expect to get much foot traffic. Working from home and
traveling have become vital parts of most professional careers, so users shouldn't have to
sit down and open a heavy laptop to see their data.
● It enhances collaboration. Giving users a way to take a screen shot and post comments
to a collective knowledge base on a topic before making a decision leads to better
decisions in less time.

Adding functionality: It's important to understand functionality in the data-viz world: a series
of actions that you expect users to take, usually in a sequential manner, that helps them have the
most optimal experience with a given data viz. To determine what functionality to choose, ask
yourself two questions:
● Where do I want the users to go? In most cases, when users enter your data viz, you
want their eyes to focus on Section 1, their current state. A glance at the current snapshot
should let them decide whether they need to address the matter immediately or come
back later, based on whether their current state is negative or positive. (Refer to Chapter
Z for a description of the different sections of a storyboard.)
● When the users get where I want them to be in the data viz, what happens next? The
answer to this question is critical, as it dictates what you expect to happen after the users
look at the data viz. The users' next steps need to be clear.
Identifying the most popular menu types: To ensure great navigation on your data viz, you
need to choose the right menu type.
These include

● Menu selectors: Including such items as drop-down menus, list boxes, radio buttons,
and tabs
● Navigational icons: Arrows or text

Menu selectors: A menu selector is a component such as a drop-down menu or list box that
enables the user to filter and/or navigate through different data views on a given data
visualization.
The most common menu selectors used today include the following:

● Drop-down menus: Drop-down menus are among the most popular menu selectors
because they're compact and can display a long list of items
● List boxes: Another very popular option is the list box. Used to display huge lists of
data, list boxes are straightforward and work well with huge data sets
● Radio buttons: Radio buttons are less popular but work well when you have a small set
of selections, as shown in Figure 10-6. We recommend avoiding this menu type if you
have more than five options; the display could quickly exhibit data overload.

Navigational icons: Another way to provide navigation is to use icons, such as arrows or text,
to guide the user (see Figure 10-8). These visual cues are easy to read and serve the same
purpose as a street sign. They guide the user through the data viz.
Dipping Into Color:
Choosing a color scheme is often one of the most challenging tasks in data visualization.
Whether working with a user or deciding on your own, selecting effective colors can be difficult.
Many things can go wrong during this phase, including overusing color, using the wrong colors,
and using the right colors in all the wrong places.The following guidelines not only eliminate
guesswork but also significantly reduce the amount of time you spend choosing the best color for
data viz.
Taking advantage of company branding guidelines
● A helpful way to choose colors is by using the company’s branding guidelines. These
guidelines, typically managed by the marketing team, include specific colors, fonts, and
shapes that maintain consistency across the company’s materials. For data visualization,
these guidelines eliminate much of the guesswork in selecting colors.
● Examples of branding guidelines can be found for major organizations like Google and
Ohio University. Their branding guidelines not only apply to their logos but also extend
to how colors are used in analytics and infographics. If branding guidelines aren’t
available, the company’s website often provides clues to the colors and fonts used.

Branding guidelines help by offering Pantone or RGB color codes, which can be directly
applied to your data visualization.
Choosing colors without guidelines
If branding guidelines are not available, you can create your own color scheme by following
these steps:
1. Choose a base color from the company logo. Blue is a commonly safe choice.
2. Use online tools like Color Scheme Designer to generate complementary colors.
3. Enter the RGB code of your base color into the tool.
 4. Select Triad or Tetrad options for complementary color suggestions.
5. Finalize and apply the colors in your visualization.

Using RAG colors:

Some colors in the data-viz color scheme are considered to be sacred, in that they're used only
for a specific purpose. These colors are known as RAG (red, amber, green) or alert colors,
similar to the ones you see in traffic stoplights. They hold the same meanings in the data-viz
world:
● Red means "Stop!" Red says that something is going wrong with one of your
measurements. The visuals with red tells the user at a glance that this measure isn't going
as planned and requires immediate attention.
● Yellow means "Proceed with caution." Yellow means that this measurement needs to
be monitored closely. Typically, some action should be taken before the measurement
moves to red. Yellow is meant to drive proactive behavior.
● Green means "Everything is okay." Usually, no action is required when a measurement
is green. For this reason, we usually don't show green status in a data viz that way, the
user won't waste mental space.
 Exploring User Adoption
Understanding User Adoption:
● Understanding user adoption involves analyzing how users interact with, accept, and
integrate new products, services, or technologies into their daily lives.
● It focuses on the factors that influence this process, such as ease of use, perceived value,
and social influence.
● According to Cindi Howson, a BI analyst and founder of BIScorecard, the average user
adoption rate for data visualizations is between 25 and 35 percent.
● Key concepts in understanding user adoption include the
○ Innovation adoption curve (early adopters, majority, laggards)
○ Barriers to adoption (cost, complexity), and
○ Strategies to encourage adoption, such as user education, trialability, and
providing ongoing support.
● This understanding is essential for businesses and developers to improve product design,
marketing, and overall user experience.

Considering Five UA Measurements

As you begin to analyze UA rates, you need to understand the following five metrics:
1)Frequency of use: Frequency of use measures the number of times an individual user uses
your data viz. To gain an accurate number, you want to make this metric an average based on
overall frequency of use.
2)Interval of frequency of use: This measures when your data viz is actually being used, as in
time of day, month, quarter, year, and so on.
For example, you could look at data that has been used between January 2013 and December
2013. Interval of frequency of use involves how often the data being displayed is updated, but it
should measure when users access the data viz and perhaps when they find the most value.
3)Area of frequency of use: This metric is one of the most important to consider. It tells you
which sections of the data viz users visit most. It also tells you what areas need to be enhanced or
removed from future updates. Finally, it provides a clear focus on what is most valuable to the
user. When you see what is used and what is ignored, you get a clear idea about what is truly
useful to viewers.
4)Type of use: Measuring how a data viz is actually being used may be a bit tricky, but it's
critical to the long-term adoption and success of the tool. If you build a data viz that has drill-
down capability, and no one ever clicks to go to more details, that particular feature (or type of
use) isn't providing much value to the user.

● Unfortunately, many of the data viz tools or systems in the market lack the ability to track
UA metrics. We recommend doing monthly or quarterly polls or surveys of your users to
gain insight into how, when, and for what purpose the data viz is being used. Doing your
own investigation is the only sure-fire way to ensure that you can provide continuous
improvements to your data viz so that it will be continually used by your audience.

● If you find that users are frequently exporting the raw data in a visualization, that's a clear
indication that users don't trust the data viz itself and are using the data viz as nothing
more than an export tool. This measure in conjunction with the frequency of use metric
tells you a lot about the actual value, or lack thereof, that the users are getting from the
data viz.
5)Number of total users compared with targeted audience size: This metric is perhaps the
most popular measure of user adoption and is best measured as a percentage. You derive it by
taking the total count of the intended audience and the number of users who are actually using
the data viz and expressing that figure as a percentage. Suppose that you build a data viz for a
sales organization of 500 people. If 50 of those people access the data viz on a regular basis, you
have a 10 percent UA rate.
Marketing to Data Viz Users

One study found that most applications or solutions that are built for business users have low
adoption rates simply because the users were never aware of the application to begin with. You
have to put some effort into making your audience aware of your product and the ways that users
can benefit from it.

To combat low UA rates, the first thing you need to do is put on your marketing hat. Just like
marketing e-mails and thousands of ads that users are exposed to on a daily basis, users will see
your data viz as just another app. It won't stand out unless you do something to market it. To gain
the attention of your audience, you need to provide a reason for them to use your data viz and
then provide reasons for them to return to it repeatedly.

We have some foolproof ways to boost UA. Many of the suggestions are part of our BI
Dashboard Formula (BIDF) program. The following sections list some of the most important
techniques for marketing to your users.

Ensure data availability and accuracy

This technique is of key importance. If users can't trust your data, your data viz will never be
used. Period. Ensure that your data viz is always painting accurate pictures of the correct data. If
the data is found to be unavailable or unreliable for any reason, users are unlikely to revisit the
data viz.

To help users believe that your data is reliable, you can look at the data from two different
perspectives. They are:

Internal company data: Typically when you use internal data you want to work hand in hand
with your IT department to select the most current, error-free data. They will know what holes
exist in th data they have. Establish a good working relationship with them so that they will
freely tell you the good and bad about the data. If you point fingers or try to blame them for
what's missing, you will ensure failure. You also want to make sure that they have been told that
your project is a high priority or they may relegate your requests to the end of a long queue.

External data from government agencies and other public or private sources: If you are
using this type of data, make sure to provide the source notes. Some users may want to look at
the raw data themselves just to be sure it's trustworthy. Others will take your word for it, but if
you have no references, you run the risk of appearing unserious, and the data viz will be
discarded.

Use buy-in and ownership to engage users

You want to ensure that you're targeting the correct key performance indicators (KPIs) and
gaining the audience's buy-in. This is also critical from future advertising and word-of-mouth
standpoints. Users will tell others about the value of your data viz, which will help others find
and use it.

Give each data viz the right name

We can't emphasize enough how important a name is. This is certainly true of book titles and
movies. Also, think about how many e-mails and Twitter hash tags go viral because of their
titles.
Great data visualizations use words that directly describe what they show. Consider the fact that
many people around the world have been told by their doctors to cut down on their salt
intake.Example : a visualization called Salt Mountains, in which salt intake is represented by
peaks of various heights. The catchy title goes a long way toward grabbing the interest of
readers.

Use internal social media platforms and intranets

Many organizations have internal social media platforms, such as Salesforce Chatter and
Yammer , which is like a corporate version of Facebook for enterprises.

As soon as a data-viz project launches, create an internal company group by using a tool such as
Yammer and invite your team to join the community. It's a great way to create excitement by
 ● Posting regular visual updates
● Adding new screen shots
● Starting conversations about a particular data viz
● Highlighting the comments of expert users

Go live on internal platforms

You should treat the announcement of your data viz as you would treat the marketing for a
product launch. Depending on the size of your audience, the cost of the data viz, and effort
required, you may be able to go live on a social media platform. Your announcement can be as
simple as conducting a short webinar for users or as big as a formal event with keynote speakers,
prizes, and live use cases presented by your superusers (the major stakeholders).

Do away with training

When someone says that he's going to train users to use his data viz, that statement is a sure sign
that he's living in the Dinosaur Age. Ease of use (EOU) is in, and training is out! With the
emergence of apps that take two seconds to download and another three seconds to start using,
few people will tolerate the need for training. That's why keeping things simple is so important.
Apps are successful because they do one thing, and they do it very well. Follow the same line of
thinking for your data viz, and it will prove to be successful.

Make sure that the data viz looks great

A house that's for sale needs to have curb appeal; it has to look good from the street so that
buyers will want to check out the inside. In the same way, your data viz needs to look good so
that people will want to dive deeper into it. Without providing an attractive package, you won't
be able to get users to enter the data viz, so why would you expect them to use it? Having a good
user interface is a must.
Provide 24/7 accessibility
Allowing users to access your data viz anytime and anywhere is critical for user adoption. With
the click or tap of a button, they should be able to view and use your data viz regardless of what
device they're using: a mobile device, a tablet, a company laptop, or a desktop computer.

Provide speed and reliability

Yes, speed is a huge factor! Just imagine accessing an app on your phone and then having to wait
a long time for it to load, but it crashes after 10 seconds. Most users instantly delete an app that
performs that way, and a smaller percentage of users will take the extra step of providing bad
feedback in a review. The same goes for your data viz. If your data viz doesn't work correctly
and quickly, you can expect users to give up on using itor, worse, to spread the word to other
users that the data viz is a dud.

A Gartner report released about 7 years ago stated that the average user has a 5- to 8-second
attention span, after which he or she simply switches to something else. Based on our experience,
we would even suggest that the evolution of smartphones has reduced the average user attention
span to as low as 2 seconds. This means that if you're unable to load data within that time frame,
you'll lose most of your users. If the data viz crashes, it's likely that the users are never going to
return and that they'll lose confidence in the application and in you.

Speed the delivery of your data viz

Delivering your data viz in a short cycle is a key component of building and maintaining
momentum with your user base. You can use this momentum to build interest for future releases.
We recommend that you deliver even the most complex data viz in two to three months
maximum and tag it as a proof of concept. This usually sets the stage for great future releases
and opens discussions about how to further enhance the application.
Taking six months to a year to build and release your first data viz is a surefire way to ensure that
you'll have no users.