Data Visualization

We have seen that the graph type that is the most useful cannot be completely derived from the characteristics of the data. The message of the graphical presentation should first be identified in order to make sure that the graph matches the goal of the user. As discovered earlier the goal of the user depends on the phase in the decision process and the state of the data. Furthermore, each graphical technique is linked to the effectiveness of the perception of an observer (Mackinlay, 1986).

Effectiveness criteria for data visualization

According to research performed by Cleveland and McGill there is a difference in the accuracy in quantitative, ordinal and nominal tasks (Mackinlay, 1986). Higher tasks are accomplished more accurately than lower tasks. Tasks to perceive different positions rank as best and differences in shapes are the perceived as being the worst.

Criteria of expressiveness of the data

Variations that should be used for designing expressive graphs and satisfying the users information needs, should at least consider the following data characteristics (Roth and Mattis, 1998b):

Intelligent presentation of the right visualization

In the previous blog, we saw how different characteristics of the data can guide the process of automatic selection of the best control. In order to support the manager with an attractive and effective interface of the information stored in the database, intelligent graphics presentation might be employed. The process of intelligent graphics presentation is directed by five components as is depicted in the figure below.

Mapping data objects to interaction objects

Data is the basic ingredient of information. In the previous blogs, I outlined those parts of the steering model that are subject to variation. Those information-shaped elements are extracted from various internal and external data sources. The internal structure (meta data model) of the data source can give a large amount of extra information that is useful in designing effective interfaces in particular in rendering graphs.

Relationships within hierarchies: important rule

Often the attributes linked to the dimensions in a hierarchy are closely related to each other and are often attributes of the same entity. A customer dimension is related to the region dimension that in turn is related to the country dimension and this can be a reason to make a hierarchy in order to reduce the amount of categories of the dimensions. Dimensions of higher order (those dimensions that have the lowest amount of categories) should reside higher in the hierarchy. The product-line dimension is of a higher order then the product dimension and therefore the hierarchy is as follows: Product-line à Product.

Categories of a dimension

At run time, a dimension is filled with categories. The number of categories can be an indication to:

• Present a different type of graph;
• Decide to use replacement instead of insertion of the categories of the level below;
• Split the categories automatically into smaller groups.

If the number of categories exceeds the limit of 6, a pie chart would be inappropriate (Zelazny, 1996) or the rest of the categories should taken together in a single group ‘Other...’. Moreover, pie charts cannot be used if among the categories there are positive as well as negative numbers. In that case, a bar chart is a better choice.

Dimensions of a measure

Dimensions are points of view from where a user can look at the measures stored in the cube. They form the structure of the multidimensional model. A measure without dimensions does not make sense. This can be compared with a record with numbers having no corresponding primary key attributes or secondary explanatory data attributes. It is important, as indicated by the title of this blog, to allocate measures to a dimension, because not all measures do hold sensible values for a dimension.

Variations of measures

Now we have discussed the upper region of the steering model I will take a look at the lower region of the model. The physical storage for the measures and dimensions are often called cubes. Cubes are three-dimensional. Many people are familiar with two dimensional spreadsheet software packages, which establish a co-ordinate system by using rows and columns.

Key Performance Indicators and critical success factors

KPI’s measure the realized performance of the organization while CSFs are the performance drivers (that which can boost the performance). Furthermore, KPIs are linked together and among the four perspectives of the Balanced scorecard. At the end of the chain of linkages there is for example the objective to improve revenue growth (financial). This can be backtracked to the objective of increasing market share (customer).

In order to accomplish this, higher customer retention is required. Having a good customer satisfaction rating helps toward this goal and can have a positive effect on cross selling rations (internal).

To improve customer satisfaction, we probably need to spend more time talking and listening to our customers. More face to face time with our customers starts the whole process. It is even thinkable that the quality of face to face communication is increased by better employee satisfaction and soft communication skills (learning/innovation).

Four perspectives of a Balanced scorecard

Each objective can be associated with one of the four perspectives a BSC-model consists of. Every perspective has its own characteristics and merits its optimal symbol or representation. The financial perspective has to do with the flow of money and hence a currency sign is more important here than for the other perspectives.

The innovation/learning perspective is related to objectives that want to achieve a higher degree of usable knowledge. Each of the perspectives can be represented by a metaphor that gives a clue about the meaning of the perspective. Financial: money, customer: people, internal: process and innovation/learning: knowledge.

Mission, strategy and objectives

The mission of an organization is of outstanding importance to be able to properly manage the organization. If an organization has no mission, no strategic management can be performed. A mission can be translated to particular strategies which can in turn be sub divided into concrete objectives such as improve returns, broaden revenue mix or minimize operational problems. Those elements of the model cannot be converted to concrete figures as is the case with key performance indicators or measures.

However, it can be made quantifiable by weighting all of the children of the parent in the 1:n relation. If quantification can take place, these text-elements can be displayed in a red or green color if they are successively better or worse respectively. Those elements cannot be depicted as tables with figures or graphs but a metaphor or icon that represents the element’s state will be appropriate.

Steering Models And Management Information

Management Information is required in order to make decisions. To manage the organization and to make proper decisions the senior manager needs aggregated, current and reliable information. This information is analyzed and modeled during the phase of information analysis for example by establishing interviews and end-user sessions. The information requested by end-users is in our business often recorded in multi-dimensional- and/or Balanced Scorecard-models.

Managers are often disturbed, have a preference for live action and deal with problems as a network of connected problems

Managers are very frequently interrupted by sub-ordinates and others (Mintzberg, 1973). Interruption causes the manager to focus his attention on another issue and therefore when the manager returns to the business intelligence system, whatever the time between, the business intelligence system should always remain in the state which it was in when the manager left it. If the manager was engaged in a planning task, the business intelligence system should refresh itself with the planning window. It should even give managers information about the completion of the sub tasks and provide them with the opportunity to proceed with the task. To decide to give an overview or not can be based on the time the manager was away. If the manager will complete with the task within a few hours, the system can present such an overview. If he succeeds within minutes, such an overview would not be convenient.

Work characterized by brevity, variety and fragmentation

Brevity, variety and fragmentation further characterize the work of the manager. On average, their telephone calls last for 6 minutes, desk work for 15 minutes and scheduled meetings, the most time consuming, last for an average of 68 minutes (Mintzberg, 1973). In addition, the job of the manager demonstrates little routine and the tasks they perform are often not repetitive. They rarely face the same decision or situation twice.

Managers have a considerable workload

In their work, managers display some typical characteristics that are significant and relevant in relation to the design of the business intelligence systems they use. Other people, situated in the lower regions of the organization require also business intelligence systems but such systems are different in several ways. The type, the structure and the nature of managerial tasks as well as the working environment can play a significant role in relation to the user interface design of business intelligence solutions.

Risks of information acquisition and processing

I have briefly described the decision making process and decisional and information retrieval behavior. Now, in addition to information retrieval behavior, I will examine and research the way in which people can make mistakes when processing and interpreting information. It is important that business intelligence software solutions keeps track (and makes visible) of which data and attributes a manager has been monitoring (Borgman, 1994). An important variance between people at the operational level and senior managers at the strategic level is that the latter demands more different and non-routine information in order to make decisions. Thus, information is more difficult to interpret and to internalize.

Information retrieval behavior

The “need” for information can be caused by four types of modes (Vandenbosch, 1997). When managers have no intention or specific purpose to find anything and are just viewing some data it is called undirected viewing or scanning which is often the case in the first sub phase of the decision making process. This is similar to undirected surfing on the internet. At the extreme other end of the continuum, we find the formal search mode which is “a deliberate effort to find a piece of information” (Aquilar, 1967). This is also referred to as focused searching.

A general task model of the decision making process

 

The succession of steps that managers perform when they are engaged in the intelligence phase (see Turban, 1993) using a business intelligence system, can be generalized as a set of strategies that make up a general task model of the senior manager when involved in a decision making process. This general task model of the decision making process accommodates the procedure discovered by Borgman. That procedure shows that managers are engaged initially in broad and systematic browsing (the checklist scanning approach) and focus, in a later stage, based on the results of the scan with large conceptual distances between successive queries (Borgman, 1994). This checklist scanning approach can be extended and translated into the following successive steps.

Decision making

In order to be a successful “driver of the car”, the manager should make deliberate and accurate decisions. Such decisions should be undertaken when the organisation is not running properly in any way. The manager should “steer the wheel” and ask himself continually “Should I turn left now, or can I drive the car forward for a while and then turn to the left? “. These questions remind us that making no decision will also be a decision. To make proper decisions, managers ask for current and reliable management information.