Summary
In Chapter 1, the author Mr. Kirk describes about the concept of Data Visualization. Data visualization was defined as the visual analysis and communication of data. The chapter also included the historical background survey definition of data visualization by various other authors.
Also, in the book was a set of fascinating recipes that of the components in that involve in the definition. The type of data that is required to be visually analyzed is important before it is being subjected to further processing before visualization.
Mr. Kirk also emphasized the significance of the art and science of making data analysis a fun filled technical and an analytical reading that encourages the use of human perception to make decisions in assistance of visual treats that come in the form of graphs, pie charts among others. The science of data visualization is defined with the implication of truth, evidence and rules that govern the process of visualizing a set of data that can be quintessential in determining the path of an enterprise or an organization.
Highlights:
Upon reading the chapter 1 in this book that was in depth into data visualization, I was able to grasp essential technical and analytical definitions and can say they are quiet telling in terms of the importance on the concept and visual representation of the definitions. The use of some of the citations was a key indicator that data visualization can be defined in various ways and can assist in technical improvements if used in way that is beneficial to all parties.
Ideas and thoughts:
The chapter was a thorough analysis of the concept. However, I was also keen on looking for live examples of visual tools or results of analysis inculcated in this defining place of the book. The big positive is the use of the concept of science and art that can be implemented in the day to day activities to introduce data visualization in any area and can help in making decisions that can set a trend for the growth of an organization. In terms of the course, it was a great read to write this review journal and can hopefully add a firm base to the things to come.
Application:
The concept of data visualization can be implemented in my current work environment. As an IT personnel, I deal with the network infrastructure and constantly come across large chunk of data that will need to be analyzed for its usage stats, bandwidth, performance and benefits of choosing the hardware or software accordingly. To best impact this, the monitoring tools such a s NetFlow helps us in verifying bandwidth over utilization or underutilization to perform a set of tasks before troubleshooting any related issues. Now, the concept of data visualization can be implemented here to introduce business analysis visualization tools such as Tableau to measure the weekly, bi-weekly, monthly statistics to make decisions. The visual analysis shows the decision maker to stick to the current bandwidth, hardware etc. or upgrade as necessary.