Frequently Asked Questions
Many businesses want to unlock the value in their data but don’t know where to start.
Here’s a few FAQs that we often answer about Data Analytics Consultancy
What is the Intersection Between Data Visualizations and Dashboards?
Data Visualizations: An Explainer
A data visualization is a single visual representation of data, like a chart, graph, or map, that helps communicate specific information or patterns. For example, you might create a line chart showing sales trends over time, or a scatter plot displaying the relationship between marketing spend and revenue. Visualizations focus on telling one specific “story” or highlighting one particular aspect of your data.
Dashboards: An Explainer
A dashboard, on the other hand, is a collection of multiple data visualizations organized into a unified interface that provides a comprehensive view of key metrics and performance indicators. Think of it as a control center that brings together various visualizations to give stakeholders a holistic understanding of business performance. A sales dashboard might include:
- Monthly revenue trends
- Sales by region
- Top performing products
- Sales team performance metrics
- Customer acquisition costs
- Conversion rates
Main Distinctions:
Purpose: Visualizations are meant to communicate specific insights, while dashboards provide ongoing monitoring and tracking of multiple metrics.
Scope: Visualizations focus on one particular dataset or relationship, while dashboards integrate multiple data sources and metrics into a single view.
Interactivity: Dashboards typically offer more interactive features like filters, drill-downs, and real-time updates, while individual visualizations tend to be more static.
Update frequency: Dashboards are usually designed for continuous monitoring with regular updates, while visualizations might be created for one-time analysis or specific reports.
Are Dashboards the best introduction to analytics?
Yes, in most cases.
The majority of companies we work with have started their analytics journey with the creation of a dashboard, for example Microsoft Power BI along with some visualisations and correlation plots. This way stakeholders can properly understand the data captured and any gaps that need to be addressed can be easily identified.
It also provides a good foundation to move on to predictive analytics.
How can I get started with data analytics?
As a starting point what we find works well is a data discovery workshop to understand the quantity and quality of the data you hold, where it is stored and what important business questions you would like answered.
Work with a data partner.
Objective has a team of data scientists who work on outsourced analytics projects, including consultancy, proof of concepts, developing visualisations and Power BI Dashboards. Alternatively, we can add skill sets to your in-house technical team.