10 Quick Tips About Data Visualization Tools

At first glance, data visualization seems pretty straightforward. Users think they simply have to select data points and plot them up into a graph or chart. What many don’t realize, however, is that data visualization is both a science and an art. Being adept at visualizing data requires understanding your data thoroughly and having a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Since many people don’t understand the different factors that make a data visualization effective, their visualizations are confusing. In the best case, their charts are unclear or difficult to read. In the worst case, they communicate insights opposite to what they intended to show. To avoid this, it’s important to take the time to understand the basic principles of effective data visualization. Data literacy is increasing. More and more, people want to upskill their data visualization abilities and there are many resources are available to help. While you could buy books or take online courses to hone your skills, you can also turn to a powerful data visualization tool with a simple user interface to practice data visualization in a real-world setting. FusionCharts is that tool. This article gives you ten quick tips about things to look for when you select a tool to help you improve your data visualizations and communicate your insights.

What Are Some Tips To Help You Look For The Right Data Visualization Tool?

Currently, there are many data visualization tools available.  Every tool, however, comes with its pros and cons. Each has a different learning curve. With these quick tips, you can select the right data visualization tool for your needs.

Should I Ensure a Wide Variety of Visualizations?

What many people find challenging about data visualization is choosing a visualization to start with. Because some visualizations suit some cases and fail in others, your choice is important. Fortunately, the choice is easier when your data visualization tool gives you a library of great tools to begin with. If you choose a tool like FusionCharts, you get to choose from more than a hundred interactive charts. This means you are more likely to find the perfect visualization for your use case.  FusionCharts’ straightforward interface also makes it easy to change between chart types, so you can try a few before you decide which one works best.

Will it Support Big Data Capabilities?

As our data needs become more complex, our datasets do too. In most cases, the data you visualize isn’t just a few simple rows or columns. Instead, you will probably be working with up to millions of complex data points that correlate in multiple ways. Because of this, you need a robust data visualization tool that can handle complex datasets. FusionCharts has big data capabilities. This means you don’t need to worry whether or not it can manage extensive, complex data — any visualization you create will be manageable too. 

How can I Ensure Comprehensive and Useful Documentation?

Whatever data visualization tool you choose, you will have to learn how to use it. While they may perform similar functions, each data visualization tool is likely to have a different procedure or workflow. For this reason, it is important to choose a data visualization tool with a manageable learning curve. In addition, you should make sure any tool you choose has quality, comprehensive documentation and so you don’t need to resort to third-party support. Ideally, your tool’s documentation includes practical examples of its functionality and use cases. The documentation should also update with every new release so it is always current. FusionCharts provides up-to-date, in-depth documentation with every new release as well as sample code, so you can get started quickly.

How can I Ensure Powerful Integration Capabilities?

Each different project has its own technical dependencies and requirements. Because of this, you need a data visualization tool that can seamlessly integrate with popular technologies. There are dozens of different front-end frameworks a developer to use to create a website. A good data visualization tool integrates easily with all of them. This integration should also occur on a number of levels. First, your data visualization tool needs to integrate easily with other tools to source the data you are working with. It should also allow you to export your visualizations in any format. Next, if it is a web project, your data visualization tool needs to communicate with a wide variety of frameworks so you can display your charts and graphs without messy workarounds. FusionCharts neatly integrates with almost all popular front-end frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.

Should I Look For Advanced Visualization Features?

Often, even the most eye-catching data visualization can do justice to your insights. That is why you need a charting tool that supports advanced visualization techniques.  FusionCharts, for example, can help build animations into your visualizations to give them greater impact.

How to Auto-Generate your Dashboards Using Templates?

If you are short on time and have to build a dashboard with multiple data visualizations, templates are a lifesaver. Every good visualization tool should include handy, pre-made dashboards that you can simply modify and populate with data. Once again, FusionCharts has multiple dashboard templates, and its straightforward interface allows you to change them easily.

How to Look For Data Processing Abilities?

In most real-world cases, raw data is rarely ready for instant visualization. It needs to be cleaned or processed before you can use it to communicate your insights. Because of this, the most effective data visualization tools support data processing. FusionCharts lets you cleanse or aggregate your data before passing it over to be visualized.

How to Include Data Storytelling Features?

Data should tell a story, and standard visualizations aren’t always up to the task.  In order to help you emphasize your insights, the best data visualization tools let you add text, labels, and markers to help direct attention to essential details within your visualization. FusionCharts has a simple syntax that allows you to add any annotation or emphasis you want.

How to Ensure Trustworthy Product Support?

Any data visualization tool you choose will be your partner for effectively visualizing data trends and presenting insights. If you run into trouble, help available must be available at all times. When you are committing to a tool, make sure it has active product support in the form of developer forums and dedicated customer service. FusionCharts has a developer community and everpresent customer support.

How to Look For Solid Mapping Abilities?

Maps are one of the most important kinds of data visualization. Your data visualization tool should have extensive map options to help you present your findings effectively. Luckily, FusionCharts has an enormous library of maps for you to choose from and offers extensive documentation to help you use them properly. Ready to use interactive data visualization tools? Start using FusionCharts today and visualize data in the most efficient way.