International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology , Vol. x, No.

x, 2022 1

Big Data visualization and you : An empirical

study.

Rania Mkhinini Gahar

Computer Department, National Engineering School of Tunis,
OASIS Research Laboratory,
University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis 1068, Tunisia
E-mail: rania.mkhininigahar@enit.rnu.tn

Olfa Arfaoui
Computer Department, University Of Carthage, Tunisia
E-mail: olfa.arfaoui@—–

Minyar Sassi Hidri

Computer Department, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting Studies,
Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
P.O. Box 1982, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
E-mail: mmsassi@iau.edu.sa

Abstract: Data is growing every day at a faster rate in practically every field. Indeed,
the traditional process of managing and processing ”classic” data cannot analyze these
massive volumes. Hence, the implementation of a Big Data Analytics system is therefore
essential to be able to take advantage of all these voluminous datasets and this ”gold
mine” of information. Therefore, with these new opportunities also appear new issues of
processing very high data volumes which continue to push companies to call on solutions
specialized in Big Data. Data need to be analyzed to make decision, and the data
visualization could be a way to lead to this goal. In this paper, we discusses about the
Big Data Visualization project, its characteristics, benefits, issues and we overview some
popular tools for beginners as well as experienced users.

Keywords: Big Data, DataViz, tools, issues, decision, prevision, challenge.

1 Introduction to make decisions faster (Walter et al. 2021).

Big data (voluminous data) refers to sets of data that
becomes so large that it becomes difficult to work
with classic basic management tools data or information
management. Every day we generate 2.5 trillion bytes
of data. In fact, 90% of the world’s data was created in
the past two recent years only (Torphy et al. 2020). The
data comes from different sources, namely the sensors
used to collect climate information; social Media Posts;
digital images and videos posted online; online Purchase
Transactional Records; and GPS signals from mobile
phones (Wright 2019).
This data is called Big Data or Massive Data. These
latter present interest to several people. In addition, 1/3
of business leaders make decisions based on information
they don’t trust, or don’t have. Moreover, half of business
leaders say they don’t have access to the information
they need to do their job and 83% of CIOs cite analytical
business intelligence as part of their plans to improve
their competitiveness. Further, 60% of of CEOs need to
improve the capture and understanding of information
Data’sources are mmultiple, namely sites, databases,
telephones, servers. Data could be analyzed to for
example, detect customer feelings and reactions or
critical or life-threatening conditions in the hospitals,
and in time to intervene, also to predict weather patterns
to plan the optimal use of wind turbines, make risky
decisions based on transactional data in real time or may
be to identify criminals and threats from videos, sounds
and data streams and studying student reactions during
a lesson, predicting which ones will succeed, based on
statistics and models gathered over the years (Big Data
in Education field).
Big data is the result of the meeting of three essential
elements which are Internet, Social networks and Smart
devices (computers, tablets, smartphones, connected
objects...). The Internet allows the transmission of
information regardless its form on smart devices: Smart
device (1): data creation; User of social networks (2):
consumer; and Internet (3): vector of transmission.
Research on Big Data analytics is entering in the new
phase called fast data where multiple gigabytes of data
2
arrive in the Big Data systems every second. Modern Big
Data systems collect inherently complex data streams
due to the 3 basic Vs (Gorodetsky 2014) which are
Volume, Velocity and Variety and to which added
Veracity, Validity, Vulnerability, Volatility, Visualization
and Value and consequently give rise to the 10Vs
(Manogaran et al. 2017) of Big Data.
The well-designed Big Data systems must be able
to deal with all 10Vs effectively by creating a balance
between data processing objectives and cost (i.e.,
computational, financial, programming efforts) in Big
Data systems. Data collection and storage capabilities
have enabled researchers in diverse domains to observe
and collect huge amount of data. However, large data
sets present substantial challenges to existing data
analysis tools.
We will focus in our paper on one of the most
important Big Data’ Vs which is data Visualization.
Companies surrounded by a virtual environment
of data. Information of great value is constantly
flowing, both internally and externally, so at least many
companies are aware of this. But to show the value more
clearly there has to be a way to collect the data and make
it understandable and meaningful. Through business
intelligence solutions, the company collects, organizes,
analyzes and transforms data into actionable insights.
These strategies transform raw data into decisions, which
allow businesses to operate efficiently and competitively.
But to turn that raw data into such decisions, it has to
be processed in order for the data to be understandable.
Data visualization is one of the most important and
valuable tools for understanding business information.
That’s why, one picture is worth a thousand words.
Humans have been visually displaying data for hundreds
of years. From maps to charts to graphs, we’ve taken
data, arranged it, and formatted it, in this way it tells a
better and deeper story than it might alone.
With the boom in technology, the data boom.
And this same technology has allowed us to process
increasingly larger amounts of data at an ever-increasing
speed. Trends, patterns, and other insights may not be
easily visible in the first text format, which is quickly
caught using data visualization software.
Once reports and dashboards replace them, the most
powerful approach becomes visual data displays because
they can convey large amounts of information in small
spaces. It can take a person hours, days, and weeks to
delve into the long data sets and visual presentations
that allow for fast and efficient translation.
Thanks to the advanced technology, many data
visualization tools allow for interactive functions. This
flexibility provides the ability to switch and change
quickly, which helps the user to discover and learn about
alternative viewpoints. This comprehensive, interactive
presentation can rarely be achieved quickly by processing
raw data without visualization software.
The quantitative factor is a common and common
challenge facing information business. It takes a
good understanding of data to know that visual
representations lead to decisions. Visuals are not
effective without context.
But the solution is fairly simple: let the tools and
people do their work. As long as you use the right tools,
and as long as the people doing the data analysis know
where the data came from, who can consume it, and
know how it will be processed and translated, the data
visualization will be on a much clearer path toward
driving those big decisions.
Every day it is discovered how important data
visualization is in the field of business information. As
high-performance analytics tools that provide better
ways to analyze data faster than ever before, they have
the ability to not only provide meaningful data, but
understand how to process it that ensures the company
stays competitive.
In fact, Visualization is critical in today’s world.
Big data is difficult to visualize. Due to in-memory
technology limitations and low scalability (scaling
up), functionalities and development time response,
visualization tools, current Big Data are faced with
technical challenges. Traditional graphs cannot be relied
upon to attempt to plot a billion data points. We
therefore need different ways of representing data. If we
take into account the multitude of variables resulting
from the variety and speed of Big Data and the complex
relationships that unite, we can see that developing a
visualization significant is not so easy.
Using charts and graphs to visualize large amounts
of complex data is much more effective in conveying
meaning than spreadsheets and reports chock-full of
numbers and formulas. Current Big Data visualization
tools face technical challenges due to limitations of in
memory technology and poor scalability, functionality,
and response time. You can not rely on traditional
graphs when trying to plot a billion data points, so
you need different ways of representing data such as
data clustering or using tree maps, sunbursts, parallel
coordinates, circular network diagrams, or cone trees.
If one combines this with the multitude of variables
resulting from Big Data’s variety and velocity and the
complex relationships between them, and you can see
that developing a meaningful visualization is not an easy
matter (Khalid et al. 2021).
2 The DataViz and you: Presentations
2.1 Definitions’Anthology
Many data scientits define data visualization in different
ways. Indeed, they agree that it is indeed a visual form
to visualize and this by facilitating access to it.
• Visual form: it is a question of representing the
data in a visual way, graphic;
• Facilitate access: The graphic representation is not
free, it is for the service objectives, the first of
which is to provide greater access easily to the
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
information conveyed by the data. It is indeed
easier and more pleasant to consider a graph than
a series of figures.
Another data experts’group agree that data visualization
is meaningless if it does not encompass understanding,
exploit and decision-making, speed and information
sharing.
• Understanding: it is a question of giving meaning
to the data, to derive information from it;
• Exploit, decision-making: the dataviz does not only
allow intellectual understanding, it transforms a
set of raw data into information allowing to act;
• Faster : dataviz accelerates understanding,
decision-making and the action we have just
mentioned;
• Information sharing: A mode of communication,
allowing data not to remain confined to the
universe of BI or statistics but to infuse the entire
organization and become a decision support and
collaborative work.
2.2 DataViz features
The value of data visualization lies in its ability to
meet three main imperatives namely interpretable,
relevant and innovative.
2.2.1 Be interpretable
In a context where the volume of data is
exploding with the exponential growth in the
use of the Internet and in particular Google, so-
called ”unstructured” data experiences the same
evolution. But a data visualization starting from
these data which would not be interpretable
(Vellido 2020), that is to say clear, would be
useless. There must be some clarity regardless of
the volume or source of the data (Lensen et al.
2020).
2.2.2 Be relevant
Figure 1: Charles Joseph Minard’figurative Map.
At a time when Big Data is a central issue for
companies, several techniques to process this mass
of information in a relevant way must be put in
place.
Relevance is linked to interpretability. The data
visualization must make it possible to answer
questions in a defined context and aimed at specific
objectives (Deller et al. 2007).
Data sources must be reliable. Data integrity is
the basis for meaningful data visualization. You
must ensure that your information is correct and
up to date. It is necessary to sort the data for
3
optimal analysis and to consider using all the data
at your disposal. This allows you to cross-reference
information and thus bring out a more complete
analysis to better support your digital marketing
department(Rodrigues Jr et al. 2003).
2.2.3 Be innovative
Finally, data visualization is only of interest if it
brings new information, originality, if it gives a
perspective unpublished on a subject. It provides
a different perspective, to illustrate an analysis
(Galletta et al. 2018, Kirk 2012).
2.3 Brief history of dataviz
Originally, it was a simple human limitation that
spawned the Data Visualization approach: our
brain is simply unable to easily process large
volumes of raw data to extract useful information.
Maybe we can do it occasionally, but certainly not
every time, let alone many times every day.
However, Data Visualization is not just about
graphical representation of data. It is also a story
that is told with the help of these representations.
The first successful expression of this approach is
a flow map that tells the story of the Russian
campaign led by Napoleon. We owe it to the
engineer Charles Joseph Minard who represents,
at the beginning of the 19th century, the story of
the colossal human losses of the Russian campaign
during which the Napoleonic army arrived in
Moscow with less than a quarter of its starting
squad.
Shortly after, nurse Florence Nightingale had the
idea of using graphic representation to allow her
reader to compare facts with complex correlations
(Magnello 2012).
She presented, for the attention of Queen Victoria,
the main causes of death of British soldiers engaged
in the Crimean War. His graphic support, dated
1858, allowed him to eloquently highlight that
epidemics were much more devastating on the
workforce than the injuries suffered in combat.
4

Florence Nightingale has therefore used a graphic

support of data to communicate information, of
course, but also to convince, that is to say, to orient
the conclusion that one draws from it (Brasseur
2005, ?).

Figure 2: Florence Nightingale’Diagram.

Figure 3: Jacques Bertin’graphic semiology.

It is by applying these new – but common

Until the 19th century, Data Visualization
– rules that we have gradually managed to
therefore evolved through isolated, independent
remove superfluous graphic elements and define
attempts, which explored both the possible fields of
what characterizes a relevant Data Visualization.
application and the possible graphical approaches.
This distinction between good and bad Data
In other words, the discipline was forging a
Visualization was notably formalized by Edward
vocabulary but it still lacked common rules – that
Tufte in his book ”The Visual Display of
is to say, a grammar.
Quantitative Information” (Tufte et al. 1998).

This grammar was laid down by Jacques Bertin Finally, we cannot evoke contemporary thinkers
who in 1967 developed the real bases of graphic of Data Visualization without citing Ben
language. Shneiderman and Stephen Few.

Ben Shneiderman is the inventor of the Treemap,

Jacques Bertin defined graphic semiology, i.e.
the elements that can be modified in a Data
Visualization to represent information. Identifying
and clearly defining these graphic variables (color,
size, surface) was simply the grammar that was
missing from the graphic language (Morita 2011).
or proportional map. This Dataviz approach allows
a hierarchical representation of data in a defined
space (Shneiderman & Plaisant 1998). As for
Stephen Few, his work ”Information Dashboard
Design” is still a reference in the design of
dashboards.
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
Figure 4: TreeMap example.
2.4 The DataViz is pretty, but what is it for?
Data visualization concerns a wide range of
business sectors. If we stick to our panel, several
areas are represented, namely consumer goods,
business services, industry, media, marketing and
advertising, scientific research, public service,
telecom, transport and logistics, etc...
All companies use data visualization either to
do certain things they were already doing better
(optimization), or to enrich their activity with
value-added tasks (innovation).
In terms of optimization, the dataviz allows, for
example, to Lagardère Active to accelerate the
production of its reports and STMicroelectronics
to make its manufacturing process more efficient;
In the area of innovation, PagesJaunes discovers
and rectifies, thanks to data visualization, the
shortcomings of its indexing, Voyages-sncf.com
launches a new innovative service (Mytripset),
Alcatel Lucent imagines the mobile applications of
tomorrow, etc.
2.5 Dual purpose of
Optimization/Innovation
More specifically, 5 use cases illustrating this dual
purpose optimization and innovation: the use of
DataViz to:
1. Improve the company management;
2. Improve the customer relationship;
3. Define the company’s own offer;
4. Contribute directly to the company business;
5. Empowering citizens.
2.5.1 To improve the company management
One of the first uses of data visualization is
to contribute to more effective management of
activity and performance, oriented towards action.
5
In our modern economy all directions need manage
their organizations as finely as possible by relying
on numerous and rich data and by producing
relevant dashboards.
”A picture is worth a thousand words” (Leung
et al. 2021) and nowadays ”the image takes
precedence often on words” (Organisciak et al.
2022).
Data visualization is the art of telling figures in a
way creative and gameful (Jung et al. 2021).
2.5.2 To improve the customer relationship
Marketing and customer relationship management
are two functions of choice for data visualization.
We visualize customer data to improve Customer
relationship management (CRM) multi-channel.
In addition, the dataviz is better to qualify the
customer base.
2.5.3 To define the company’s own offer
At the opposite end of the spectrum, data
visualization provides companies with tools to
better define their offers. Moreover, the exploration
of collected customer data and the ability to test
different hypotheses prove particularly valuable.
2.5.4 To Contribute directly to the company
business
The dataviz serves to better understand your
competitive positioning. That’s why, the Data
visualization could be considered as a relevant
source of value and differentiation which
immediately identify customer postponements.
Here, data visualization could directly influences
the business’economics model (Zhang et al. 2021).
2.5.5 Empowering citizens
Data visualization also finds its usefulness outside
the walls of the company. It can contribute to
better informing the citizen and therefore giving
him the means to act.
In fact, company can allow citizens to think
through ”Citizen dataviz” projects may take a
longer turn activist (Forkan et al. 2019, Nærland &
Engebretsen 2021, Raineri & Molinari 2021). This
is the case, for example, of the ”pariteur” of France
Télévisions.
2.6 DataViz and Infographics
The Dataviz takes the information a person
needs and presents it in a way that it is easily
understandable.
6
Infographics are a mix between Dataviz,
journalism and marketing. They use strategically
chosen data visualizations and lexicon to explain
a complex story easily.
The confusion in terminology is understandable
however the terms are not interchangeable. Both
turn data into easy-to-understand visualizations.
These tools are extremely powerful when it comes
to explaining numbers in an educational way to
people who are reluctant to analyze data. This is
their only common point. Here is a definition for
both forms of presentations.
Some distinction points between these two terms
can take place in Table 1.
2.7 Main reasons for using DataViz
Three main reasons explain the use of data
visualization namely confirm or refuse hypotheses
on a market, educate and explore.
– Confirm or refuse hypotheses on a market
∗ The DataViz can then take the form of
a dashboard, making it possible to make
a decision while having a global vision of
the studied market.
– Educate
∗ Internally, companies use the DataViz for
research work reporting or brainstorming
sessions.
∗ It can be a good complement to creative
approaches such as ”gamification”
– Explore
∗ This is the most futuristic aspect of
data visualization, which certainly will
develop.
∗ Dataviz can help build predictive models.
We are then in the field of data analysis
2.8 The DataViz: buzzword or real
innovation?
Over the past 3 years, there has been a very strong
craze for dataviz. However, some companies and
startups, who are thinking about turning their
deluge of data into insights, are beginning to
wonder if this is a buzzword commercial term or a
real reality in companies. ?
One piece of information could, however, put us
on the alert in the answer to this question: the
company Tableau Software raised $254m on the
NASDAQ in May 2013 (Huang 2018). If behind
this company there was only a passing craze, I
think investors would have been hesitant to invest
so much money.
When I reflect for a few moments on the term
“data”, I realize that it is particularly ambiguous
and vague. What does data represent in an
organization? Figures, indicators, tables. . . It is
true that data is ubiquitous today and seems
obvious. However, they are very difficult to grasp.
The data that are thus available to professionals
to guide them in their decisions are increasingly
numerous and multi-structured. But how not to be
overwhelmed and make it a real tool for reflection
and decision-making? How to obtain answers to
fundamental questions whose answers are for the
moment totally unknown?
It is in the face of these requirements that
the dataviz takes on its full meaning. The
representation of data in the form of images
makes it easier to understand them. There are
several definitions of dataviz in the academic
and industrial state of the art. These different
definitions all converge on the fact that dataviz
is a way to give meaning to data in order
to extract information from it and therefore to
exploit it. Dataviz not only enables intellectual
understanding, it transforms a set of raw data into
actionable information. In addition, it accelerates
the understanding, decision and action that we
have just mentioned. It is also a mode of
communication, allowing data not to remain
confined to the world of BI or statistics but
to infuse the entire organization and become
a support for decision-making and collaborative
work.
The dataviz has many uses and leads to a
variety of benefits for the organization. First, it
contributes to a more effective management of
activity and performance, oriented towards action.
This improvement in management is manifested by
taking a step back in addition to other tools whose
horizon is in the shorter term. In other words, the
dataviz can be used as a decision-making, strategic
tool, usable by a local manager to manage his
performance.
Another important use of dataviz is the reinvention
of customer service to improve its efficiency.
SFR, with the aim of improving the management
and understanding of their KPIs, uses dataviz
to identify causal relationships in their data
sources in order to find hidden patterns through
their main sales channels. A good customer
relationship is based on perfect knowledge of the
customer himself. What are their characteristics
and behaviors? How to segment and classify them?
The exploration capabilities in the data enabled
by data visualization find their full meaning in
providing answers to these questions.
Another key point about dataviz is its ability
to foster innovation and its potential to get the
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study. 7

Table 1 Infographics versus DataViz

Infographics DataViz
Promotes the information understanding that we Bring out information that was unknown by analyzing
already know by representing it in graphic form. data presented in graphical form.
Modest data amount. Huge data volume.
Good design makes a product useful. Good DataViz makes information useful.
Good design is aesthetic. Good Data is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable. Good DataViz makes information understandable.
Good design is honest. Good DataViz is honest.
Didactic approach focused on others. Self-knowledge tool.
Understanding support. Decision support.

business to consider new possibilities. In particular, visualization. These visual representations make
it is a testing ground for new modes of interaction it easier to understand raw data and thus help
with users. in decision-making. Big Data, is not just “more”
data. It is so much data, that is so mixed and
unstructured, and is accumulating so rapidly, that
3 The dataViz’s benefits traditional techniques and methodologies including
“normal” software do not really work (like Excel,
Crystal reports or similar).
In a context of ever-increasing and often highly
complex volumes of data, dataviz has many The DataViz makes it possible to make the most
advantages. comprehensible data important and what they
Data visualization is far from being an accessory mean, regardless of the audience concerned. Its
intended to embellish your website or your effectiveness is based on the fact that a majority
presentations. of us grasp and retain information better when
it is represented visually. The following image
In a synthetic way, we can say that the dataviz illustrates this fact, which was studied by an
improves: American psychologist.
– The data understanding;
By looking very quickly at this visual, we perceive
– The data communication; important information (the red dot) immediately,
– The decision-making; without no special effort on our part. Of course, for
this approach to be effective, the data visualization
– The ability to innovate.
must play on well thought out visual choices.
DataViz’benefits could be described more in the
figure 5.

Figure 6: Red dot perception.

Unlike a table filled with figures, the dataviz helps

Figure 5: DataViz’benefits. to highlight information that seems complex, or
drowned in a large amount of parameters. The
following example illustrates this fact well. For
3.1 Dataviz makes it easier to understand example, we want to analyze the visit rate of
data European countries.

With the Big Data advent, and the proliferation of The table shows us the values for each country, of
data sources, companies are increasingly using data course.
8
Figure 7: Visits per countries.
But is it really ideal for ordering easily and between
countries quickly? And explain it in a few seconds
to his audience?
On the other hand, if we transcribe this
information on a map, with more or less bright
colors depending on the strength of the index,
everything becomes clearer. We want to quickly
understand which countries have the highest rate
of visits. The figure 8 allows us to assess at a
glance the three countries with the highest rate
of visits. Analyzing an Excel file is much faster
by visualization, especially if the data is large and
complex.
Figure 8: Visits per countries with a map
representation.
Our brain needs less than 250 milliseconds to
enter (1), understand (2) and respond (3) to
information under visual form. Whereas compare
raw data in tabular form requires an effort
of memory which quickly reaches its limits.
Ultimately, data visualization invites us to take up
the classic distinction between data, information
and knowledge. If the data are unitary, raw
elements, reflecting a reality, the information is
their coherence to give them meaning.
3.2 Dataviz improves communication
Data not only reflect reality, they are not just
a steering lever. They are also a communication
tool. Unfortunately, few of us are fluent in their
language. Most of us need an interpreter to make
us penetrate into the intelligence of the data. This
is where data visualization comes in.
Moreover, Communication is the major asset of
the dataviz for coordinate the teams. Indeed, the
infinite volumes of data stored by companies are
generally only within the reach of data analysts
and other technical profiles. But once put into
images, this data is accessible to everyone without
any prior training. The support generated by the
dataviz makes it possible to unify the discourse,
and to convey clear and unambiguous messages.
We can truly speak of a democratization of access
to given (Holbrook 2019).
3.3 Dataviz optimizes and accelerates
decision-making
This is the logical continuation of an easier
understanding of the data. The dataviz allows
the development of interactive dashboards. Unlike
static charts, such as those in Excel, interactive
dataviz allow the exploration of data in depth,
with less effort. In a few clicks, it is now possible
to release correlations between the operational
actions put in place, and the performance, their
impact. It is also much easier to compare its
indicators to the market, to competitors. Once
the data has been clarified and better identified,
decision makers can focus on the essentials and
make choices in a way more simple.
3.4 Dataviz promotes innovation
Finally, we cannot close this part on the benefits of
data visualization without examining its potential
in terms of innovation. Indeed, dataviz is also a
field of research that can encourage the company
to consider new possibilities.In particular, it is a
testing ground for new ways of interacting with
users (Basole et al. 2017, Sarica et al. 2019).
4 Characteristics of DataViz projects
The deployment of dataviz software is a crucial
step that must be perfectly orchestrated to
guarantee the success of the project. This later
must be both fast and light (McCosker & Wilken
2014, Kirk 2016, Burnett et al. 2021).
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
4.1 DataViz project’speed
A first characteristic of dataviz projects is that
they are, all in all, quick to conduct. Their big
advantage is in particular to reduce the time
between the launch of the project and the ability
to show a first operational version (Raineri &
Molinari 2021).
There are several reasons for this speed. One of
them is that dataviz projects require hardware and
software resources that interfere little with existing
architectures.
They therefore do not require long and
complex budget validation cycles: the necessary
environment can be available in a short time.
Another reason is that data visualization lends
itself well to ”POC” (proof of concept) type
approaches, experimentation, trial and error
iteration loops.
Dataviz projects have a very empirical side,
completely in phase with current development
approaches, such as agile methodology, Rapid
Agile Development or SCRUM.
4.2 DataViz project’lightness
Lightness is involved in the technical resources
required which are quite light. Example:
Recent technological developments, such as the
development of json-type formats (DS.JS3), put
us in direct connection with data. Thanks to
these formats, we can recover varied data from
all horizons, using standard applications. A real
human-data interface is thus being established.
4.3 Success key factors
To succeed in a data visualization project, it is
necessary to bring together key success factors that
can be classified into three categories.
First of all, there are the classic good practices
of any project: ensuring preparation and planning,
choosing the right scope, implementing the
appropriate methodologies, etc.
The second category is that a dataviz
project concerns data: their targeting, their
quality, respect for confidentiality and access
authorizations, are therefore essential.
Finally, of course, ergonomics and graphic
intelligence play a key role in the acceptance of the
dataviz and its effective use (although, by the way,
these aspects should be part of any IT project...)
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4.3.1 Prepare the project well
– The first secret to success is preparation. This
is understood on two levels: the content of the
data visualization, on the one hand, and the
project approach, on the other hand.
– The dataviz is not a panacea and, to be useful,
it must be well thought out.
– On the methodological aspect, the
preparation consists of implementing
establishes a process for collecting, analyzing
and representing data that is viable over
time, but also sufficiently flexible.
4.3.2 Target data and visualizations
according to the profile of the users
A second success factor is related to the nature
of the data visualization, namely a communication
tool. However, for communicate effectively with
someone, it is important to meet his need, with
clarity and in a form he understands.
Three key questions to ask yourself to choose the
best representation :
1. What question do we want to answer?
– All the graphs do not make it possible to
present the same analyzes (distribution,
evolution, decomposition. . . ). Hence the
importance for the designer to question
his intention.
2. Who are we talking to?
– Is he an expert or a layman? What should
he do with the information (e.g. retain
the information for later or make an
immediate decision)?
3. In what context is the interlocutor?
– The good reception of the graphic
does not only depend on the graphic
itself, but also of the intellectual and
visual availability of the reader. All
that the graphic designer can do is to
try to anticipate this greater or lesser
availability, in order to choose the most
suitable representation.
The difficulty increases when the data visualization
must address different audiences. It is then
necessary to provide modes of representation
adapted to each of them. This is the case, for
example, of the Belgian FPS Economy, which
communicates with both the general public and
professionals.
10
4.3.3 Start on small perimeters, to learn
Another good practice is to ”get your hands
dirty” on first restricted perimeters, if possible as
controlled as possible. This allows you to move
forward, without too many risks, in trial and error
mode until a first satisfactory solution is obtained.
4.3.4 Ensure data quality at source
In Business Intelligence (BI), you reap what you
sow or, to put it more lapidary way: garbage
in, garbage out. In other words, if we want data
visualization to be able to communicate the right
messages, to make it possible to make informed
decisions, to explore unknown territories, there is
one condition to be met above all: to have quality
data entrance. In return, the DataViz improves the
quality of the data. First, because it compels a
certain discipline; then, because it also visualizes...
the non-quality of the data. Repeated outliers may
appear at first glance as oddly placed dots, for
example.
4.3.5 Focus on cooperation between several
departments
Another ingredient of success lies in the
cooperation between the actors of the project.
The DataViz thus contributes to breaking down
the silos that may exist in the company and
contributes to greater cross-functionality.
4.3.6 Train the teams
Data visualization does not really require side
training users. On the contrary, we can say that it
is fully successful when it is immediately adopted.
For this, simplicity and intuitiveness are essential.
But offering a simple rendering can be extremely
complicated. This is why the training of those who
produce the visualizations is an undeniable plus.
4.3.7 Using aesthetics as a lever for
appropriating information
Data visualization cannot be reduced to a
representation aesthetics of data. One can make
pretty representations that are perfectly useless.
But that’s not to say that aesthetics don’t play
a role. Used well, it is an essential criterion
of efficiency for the dataviz. In this concern to
combine aesthetics and efficiency, companies have
every interest in being imaginative and going
beyond traditional Excel-type charts, if that makes
sense.
4.4 Pitfalls to avoid
If certain good practices maximize the chances
of succeeding in your data visualization project,
you can expect, as with any project, to encounter
difficulties:
1. The risk of overloading it with information
2. A General Management that does not
necessarily perceive the interest of data
visualization immediately
3. Skepticism about the performance of the tool
4. A pitfall to avoid: forget your classics : We
should not confuse simplicity with simplism
(Nielson 1995, Deng et al. 2005).
4.5 The DataViz’s impact on the
relationship between IT and business lines
Data visualization projects have the particularity,
as we saw previously, of offering great autonomy
to users. users. This is why, in this area, the
relationship between IT and the Professions are set
to evolve. It has happened that friction has arisen,
with the IT Department feeling deprived of some of
its prerogatives. These tensions have unfortunately
been maintained by some providers of dataviz
solutions by addressing only the Business Lines
without going through the IT Department to win
contracts (Magee et al. 2016, Grant 2019).
Thus, we cannot speak of a loss of prerogatives of
the DSI or the BI teams. Simply, data visualization
raises new questions about how to represent data,
about the distribution of roles and responsibilities
between the business lines and the IT department,
about how to conduct projects (Graessley et al.
2019, Villars et al. n.d.).
CIOs understand this. Even those who were
initially reluctant are realizing that data
visualization is not a threat, and are softening
their stance (Santolalla 2020, Howard 2013).
In truth, data visualization is a chance for CIOs
and BI teams. On the one hand, it will relieve them
of time-consuming tasks, allowing them to focus
on their missions with higher added value. On the
other hand, they even have a unique opportunity
to invent a new form of BI and relationship with
business (CADENAZZI 2020).
What we can remember is that data visualization,
even if it provides great autonomy to the
business lines, is a question that should interest
the IT department and the BI teams, quite
simply because it touches the data. Autonomy of
businesses is useful if it is implemented in a smart
way and if it allows them to obtain even more value
from the CIO and the BI (Schaeffer et al. 2017).
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
Presumably, by accustoming the Professions to
speaking the language of data, thanks to graphics,
the dataviz will contribute to the taking of
awareness of the value of data. It can therefore play
a role unifier, at the service of business creation
(Chatfield & Reddick 2018).
5 which tools for which data
visualization?
With the advent of the Big Data era come new
challenges for Information Visualization. First,
the amount of data to be visualized exceeds the
available screen space. Second, the data cannot be
stored and processed on a conventional computer.
To alleviate both of these problems, a Big Data
visualization system must provide perceptual and
performance scalability.
In this section, we will focus on some data
visualization tools for beginners as well as for
experienced users.
5.1 Tools accessible to beginners
tools for beginners are available to allow them to
create dataviz without resorting to programming
or its basis and no expertise is required.
5.1.1 office software and extensions
Excel. spreadsheets aren’t as popular as they
were ten years ago. While still great for entering
and calculating data, all those cells and formulas
can be cumbersome (Lee et al. 2019, Oike et al.
2019). Despite the volume of large data, Excel still
remains the reference in many companies and is
the only way to process data (Patel 2022). Most
customers approach companies with spreadsheets
full of data, and we use the same analytics process
for many of us to tell their data story, visually. We
collaborate with customers from data to visualized
product, but sometimes you don’t have the time to
hire a vendor to do the job.
Excel remains one of the basic tools for data
visualization. The maximum number of values in
a column is about 1,999,999,997 (Hiljazi & Curtis
2018).
Excel in 2016. Excel 2016 is the very recent
(released on September 22, 2015) successor to
Excel 2013. The majority of the functionalities
have not changed but Microsoft has prepared some
new features for us both in the user interface and
in the very functionalities of Excel.
11
You can improve your Excel experience with
add-ins. These latter allow users to extend the
functionality of Microsoft Excel and help save their
time and effort (Ali et al. 2016). Excel add-ins work
like apps that you download or buy for your mobile
phone or computer. They are mini software tools
that you can install in Microsoft Excel and add
many features such as shortcuts, tasks and time
saving options that you cannot find in a standalone
Excel application.
Third parties create Excel add-ins to provide Excel
users with extended functionality and save their
time and effort. Developing these add-ins requires
coding expertise in languages such as XML and
VBA and providing an easy-to-use interface that
complements Excel.
Table 2 overviews some Excel add-ins for dataviz.
Libre Office. “A picture says a thousand words.”
These days, data comes in a variety of forms,
but cannot be interpreted easily most times. At
this point, data visualisation becomes more and
more important, as the human mind captures and
interprets data more easily through vision than
any other sense. Although spreadsheet applications
provide numerous ways to process data and adapt
it to the user’s needs, it is often easier to just look
at a diagram to see trends or get a general overview
of a particular dataset.
Libre Office is a free and open-source office suite,
derived from the OpenOffice.org project, created
and managed by The Document Foundation.
LibreOffice is notably supported by the Free
Software Foundation and brings together a large
part of the former “OpenOffice.org community”. It
supplies extensions to make different tasks such as
visualization.
Libre Office extensions are software plug-ins that
you install as an extra to the standard LibreOffice
suite and which add additional functionality to the
suite, either to a particular application (Writer,
Calc, Impress, ), or to all applications. In figure 9
a dataviz example with the Libre Office using the
chart type.
Figure 9: Libre Office : a chart example.
12

Table 2 Some Excel add-ins for DataViz.

Add-in Description Illustrative Example

– Is used to display high-level chart data within a map.

– Filled Maps are beneficial in visually displaying data
Filled Map sets by geographic location.
– This map type currently has significant limitations on
the type of information it can display.

– Microsoft 3D Maps for Excel is a three-dimensional

(3D) data visualization tool that lets you look at
3D- information in new ways.
Mapping – 3D Maps lets you discover insights you might not see
in traditional two-dimensional (2D) tables and charts.

– The Bing Maps add-in makes it easy to plot locations

and visualize your data through Bing Maps in Excel;
– Bing Maps app for Office helps you use location data
Bing Maps from a given column and plot it on a Bing Map;
– It also provides basic data visualization using your
location data.

– It akes your typical bar chart data and shows it on a

circular plot;
– Your visual analysis benefits from all of the advantages
of both bar charts and circular graphs in this one
Radial Bar visualization;
Chart – Thanks to the unique design of the Radial Bar Chart,
it’s a highly versatile visualization;
– You can track progress, compare categories and
perform detailed analysis.

– you can quickly visualize data in your Excel

spreadsheet;
– You can use to App to create 8 different chart types,
XLMiner including advanced multi variate charts such as a
Data Scatterplot Matrix or Parallel Coordinates chart;
Visualization
– You can quickly change the variables plotted on each
App
axis, ”size by” and ”color by” categorical variables for
quick insights, zoom in and out, and apply filters to
highlight data of interest.
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
Some examples of Libre Office extensions dedicated
to data visualization can be presented in the table
3.
5.1.2 online office suites
Google Drive. When choosing between data
visualization tools, one option worth considering
is Google Sheets. Google’s spreadsheet application
can be used to generate charts, tables and even
maps that can be embedded on a website. They’re
easy to make and can be configured to update
automatically (Dougherty & Ilyankou 2021).
It’s not for every visualization need. Some projects
require more complicated data visualization
techniques and more customization than what
Google Sheets provides. An example can be
described in figure 10.
Figure 10: Google sheets dataviz example.
Google drive extensions can also help novice users
to perform data visualizations, namely Fusion
Tables (Doshi et al. 2014), Slemma (Cardona
& Garcia 2017), Geckoboard (Orlovskyi et al.
2019), VizyDrop (Poola n.d.), BIME Analytics
(ur Rehman et al. 2016), Cyfe (Olivér 2020) and
Datahero (Atwood & Reznik-Zellen 2018), .
5.1.3 Office 365
Microsoft 365 is the brand designating a
subscription to the latest version of Microsoft
Office and a set of cloud services, as opposed to
so-called perpetual licenses which are installed for
an indefinite period on a single computer at a
time. As of November 2021, Microsoft 365 has
approximately 50 million subscribers.
Microsoft 365 is made up of the Office suite (Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher
and Access), as well as a set of online services
such as OneDrive, Exchange Online, SharePoint
13
Online, Teams and Yammer. The Office suite
allows work in offline mode like a perpetual suite,
which distinguishes it from Office Online, which
is used from a Web browser. The principle of
Microsoft 365 is to be updated as new versions of
Office are released (Wilson 2014).
Office 365 provides also some integration apps to
visualize you data in an interpretable, innovative
and relevant way. Table 4 describes some ones
highlighting their main functionalities.
5.1.4 Simple online tools
Tableau. Tableau Public is a free platform
for exploring, creating, and publicly sharing
data visualizations online. Anyone can create
visualizations with our web authoring platform or
Tableau Desktop Public Edition which is available
for free. Users with Tableau Desktop Professional
Edition can also publish to Tableau Public for
free (Kennedy & Allen 2016). With millions
of inspiring data visualizations to discover and
explore, Tableau Public makes it easy to develop
your own data skills and build a portfolio of work
online. Join the Tableau Public community where
you can grow and learn from each other while
bringing data into your daily life. More advantages
are presented in the Figure 11.
Figure 11: 5 criteria ranking: Tableau Public.
Canva. Unlike other charting tools, Canva is
quick and easy. There’s no learning curve –
you’ll have a beautiful graph or chart in minutes,
turning raw data into something visual and easy
to understand. This tool offers over 20 professional
chart types to choose from professionally designed
templates to speed up your workflow. Moreover,
Data visualization is made simple and especially
with no complicated software to learn. Also, with
Canva, we can publish, share or download your
high resolution graphic and we easily embed our
chart in presentations, reports, and more. In fact,
simple drag-and-drop tools are accessible to non-
professionals (Ahn 2019).
14

Table 3 Libre Office Extensions.

Extension Description Illustrative Example
– Insert map images directly into your document from
address information;
– Select an address and click the icon or just click the
icon and enter the address;
GeoMap – An image map will be inserted into your document;
– Select an existing GeoMap image and click the on icon.
– You will see that the information from the original
map image is prefilled ind the dialoque.. . .

– This free solution proposes to carry out thematic maps

with the LibreOffice tools:
∗ Draw : for the formatting.
∗ Calc or Base: To store data you want to
GeOOo analyze.
– Once generated the map is editable.
– You can be exported to different formats (pdf, png,
svg. . . )

– Is a LibreOffice Calc extension that clusters the rows

in a table and colors them to indicate the clusters;
– The project does not depend on any machine learning
ClusterRows or linear algebra libraries;
– Full source code is made available under GPL3 license.
...

– Adds a ”Gallery” with 1600 maps, diagrams, graphs,

for geography and history classified by 96 themes
OOoHG Gallery (bitmap and vector graphic format). All countries, all
states, all regions and all historical periods. . . .

– This template is using OpenStreetMap Datas as

Background for nice presentations !
OpenStreetMap – The license of this presentation is CC-By-Sa Léo
Presentation SERRE
– Download the .odp file and open it in LibreOffice.
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study. 15

Table 4 Data Visualization Apps Integrated with Microsoft 365.

Apps Description
– Is a cloud-based enterprise planning software, which offers tools to help businesses
collaboratively plan using tools for modeling, budgeting & forecasting;
Workday
Adaptive – It offers features including balance sheets, expense tracking, workforce modeling, and more;
Planning – It helps people in companies collaborate, gain insights, and make smarter decisions using
powerful modeling and analytics.

– It is an enterprise decision management platform suitable for IT, government, legal, and
marketing teams;
– It can be adapted to any type of business and easily mapped to existing processes and
Coras governance;
– It allows every team member to stay on top of their tasks with the Coras workload
visualization feature which can be in the form of a mind map, Kanban board, Gantt
timeline, or a range of other visual displays.

– Microsoft Power BI is a data analysis solution from Microsoft;

– It enables the creation of personalized and interactive data visualizations with an interface
Microsoft simple enough for end users to create their own reports and dashboards;
Power BI
– It is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to transform
different data sources into visual, immersive, and interactive information.

– It is an all-in-one dashboard app that helps users monitor & analyze data scattered across
Cyfe all of your online services like Google Analytics, Salesforce, Google Ads, MailChimp,
Facebook, Twitter, and more from one single location in real-time.

– It is an ad-hoc reporting and business intelligence solution which provides businesses with
the tools to design and deploy custom reports on business metrics;
– It offers features including a report and dashboard designer, online report deployment, a
DBxtra report scheduler, and an excel reporting service;
– With DBxtra even non-technical users can generate interactive business intelligence reports
and dashboards, and deploy them across the web.

– It helps business people make faster, better business decisions, empowering them with
self-service tools to explore data and share insights in minutes;
MicroStrategy
Analytics – Simple drag-and-drop tools are paired with intuitive visualizations;
– Quick connections to any data source are combined with one-click sharing of any insight.

– It is the cockpit from which you can fly your business;

– supports integration with host of popular business software including accounting, POS,
9 Spokes inventory, marketing, and more;
– It builds your business dashboard. One view, with 360-coverage of your business so you’re
always 100% informed.

– It is a cloud-based business planning software powered by Microsoft BI;

– It combines budgeting, forecasting, BI reporting, and intuitive modelling technology in a
Kepion single, centralized platform, enabling users to produce and plan applications around the
way their organization works;
16
Plot.ly. Is knwons as ”A must know tool for
building visualizations”. Plotly is an open source
visualization library for data visualization and
analysis. Plotly provides many products including
Dash, Chart Studio, a Python framework, R and
recently JULIA for building fast, easy and powerful
analytical applications. It is a bookstore use for
data visualization. he takes in supports various
graphs such as scientific graphs, 3D graphs, charts
statistics. It gives the hand to draw several types
of graph such as 3D graphs, histograms, easy to
use and handle, totally free and very interactive
and flexible. More advantages are presented in the
Figure 12.
Figure 12: 5 criteria ranking: Plotly.
PowerBI. Is a data analysis solution from
Microsoft. It allows for the creation of personalized
and interactive data visualizations with an
interface simple enough for end users to create
their own reports and dashboards. Power BI has
been ranked a leader for several consecutive years
in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant (VIOREL & LUCIA
2019).
From a functional point of view, the Microsoft
Power BI tool can be classified in the category of
BI Self-Service and Data Visualization solutions
oriented towards business users. Indeed, the tool
allows non-IT users to produce ”sexy” reports
without requiring any real technical skills. More
advantages are presented in the Figure 13.
Figure 13: 5 criteria ranking: Power BI.
Chartblocks. This is an online charting software.
It helps to create basic charts quite quickly and to
import more data from different external sources.
With this tool, you will have the possibility to
export your visualization in SVG or PNG format
and also add it to your website and then share it
on social media platforms (Fahad & Yahya 2018).
Periscope Data. Is a powerful platform
dedicated to Data-Analysis. It can gather all the
data of your company and create reports. With
this tool, you can easily convert your figures
into an easy-to-understand graph or report. It is
powerful, but quite expensive to buy (Pattanaik
& Wiegand 2021).
Periscope Data enables analysts to turn their
SQL queries into interactive dashboards, charts,
and reports for data consumers with frequent
data needs. Periscope Data’s breakthrough data
warehouse infrastructure quickly connects to your
databases to deliver incredibly fast, low-cost
query processing. Unlimited users and no query
limits remove workflow barriers and promote data
literacy across your organization (Richardson et al.
2020).
Holistics. Is an intelligent data reporting and
BI platform that lets you answer your own data
questions and issues without having to rely on
technical support. It eliminates the need for
request queue irritation for business and data
teams. With Holistics, data teams can design and
manage a set of business KPIs, and business users
can access their own data without writing SQL or
messing with data teams (Khan 2021).
The data team can use Holistics to provide a
common definition of metrics and then organize
datasets for business users to see. Without coding
SQL or depending on technical colleagues, business
users can evaluate and create their own reports
and visualizations using this platform. Users can
transform business logic into data logic, update
data in a central location, and push the change
to all dependent models, datasets, and reports
with Holistics. You can share information with
stakeholders with a single click and send it via
Slack, email, webhooks and other methods. Users
can additionally browse their favorite dashboards
using explorations and receive notifications when
something important happens.
Cluvio. Is a cloud-based analytics and business
intelligence solution that allows companies to
analyze data using a dashboard. The solution
allows running queries, filtering results and
displaying data on charts and diagrams. Its key
features include an SQL editor, customizable R
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
scripts, push notifications, sharing dashboards
with customers, and more (Srivastava &
Venkataraman 2022). The Cluvio dashboard can
also be shared with colleagues using a link allowing
them to access it without logging in. Users can
drill down data, specify date ranges, and configure
aggregation settings. Cluvio can integrate with
various databases, including PostgreSQL, MySQL,
Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, MariaDB,
Microsoft SQLServer, Amazon Web Services,
Oracle, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Aura,
and Exasol. Services are offered on a monthly
subscription basis. Support is provided by email
and through an online portal.
Klipfolio. Is a cloud application for creating and
sharing real-time dashboards on web browsers,
TV screens and mobile devices. Subscriptions
start at just $29/month and you can try it
for free at Klipfolio.com. Connect to hundreds
of online and offline data sources (including
web applications such as Salesforce and Google
Analytics, databases, spreadsheets, servers or
files), leverage a robust library of pre-built data
visualizations or create your own powerful editor
from scratch (Amer & El-Hadi 2019).
Clicdata. Was born from the observation that,
regardless of the amount of investment in servers,
software and integrators, business intelligence
suffers from a lack of flexibility. ClicData is a 100
Where most players are just visualization, IL
allows businesses to connect and consolidate their
data, then shape it into charts from a single
platform.
It offers a more modern vision of the software
by offering in particular the possibility of
importing data regardless of their format and
cross-referencing information from different tools.
In addition, with ClicData, all processes are
automated because extremely dynamic data, such
as cash register files in the retail sector, requires
very fresh data rendering, without the user having
to need to update each time and giving it
the possibility of being notified of each relevant
element of the reporting that concerns it (Viljanen
2020).
Qlik Sense. An effective visualization clearly
presents the relationships between many values
and allows you to analyze data at a glance. Qlik
Sense offers a wide range of visualizations and
charts. Each chart excels at visualizing data in
various ways for different purposes. Charts should
be selected based on the data you want to see
in them. If you are unsure of which visualizations
to use in your project, Qlik Sense can offer
recommendations (Vashisht & Dharia 2020).
17
Chartio. Chartio is a cloud-based business
intelligence and analytics solution that allows
its users to easily analyze data from business
applications and represent it through various
customizable charts. Chartio is suitable for people
with no technical background and professionals,
as you can choose between intuitive Interactive
and SQL modes (David 2020). Chartio integration
makes data analysis and visualization available
for people with no technical background (however,
it gives you the opportunity to learn basic SQL
as well). It facilitates operations management as
well, as the interactive dashboards can be easily
shared with your co-worker or team. Chartio’s
visualization tool allows users to create custom
graphs, charts and reports, which can be shared
instantly through email, Slack or downloads.
DataWrapper. Datawrapper is another great
data visualization software on this list. Your
target audience should be able to understand the
type of chart you are creating. Also, the Excel
screenshot looks great on your desktop, but it’s
barely readable on mobile.
And Datawrapper solves this problem
automatically. All charts, tables and maps you
create with DataWrapper are easily readable on
all devices. The good news is that you don’t need
any coding skills to create the graphics. Since
Datawrapper is a non-commercial platform, it is
best suited for students and small organizations
that need basic data visualization features (Islam
& Jin 2019). More advantages can be presented in
the Figure 14.
Figure 14: 5 criteria ranking: DataWrapper.
Venngage. Venngage is a web application, for
creating a range of data visualisations including
infographics, posters, reports, and promotions.
The basic version of the Venngage application is
web based and does not require an installation. You
do, however, need a free account to start creating
your own visualisations (Usova & Laws 2021).
18
Piktochart. Piktochart is a web-based graphic
design tool and infographic maker. With it, you can
create bar charts, maps, line graphs, scatter plot,
and more. Create interactive data visualizations
with an easy-to-use dashboard.When creating a
new file, users can start from a blank sheet or
choose from one of the 600 templates offered,
arranged in a multitude of categories (Peddoju &
Upadhyay 2020).
The editor is intuitive and very easy to use. It
is possible to add photos, videos, or icons to a
document via a simple ”drag and drop”. The fonts
and colors used are also modifiable. The tool also
allows you to synchronize with Google Spreadsheet
or SurveyMonkey to retrieve data and thus create
interactive graphs or tables.
Another interesting feature is the ability to protect
your work with a password if it involves sensitive
files for clients or colleagues. A formula dedicated
to teams makes it possible to collaborate within
the same platform and to have access to the
comments of the members involved. A very good
tool for those looking for a simple and accessible
solution to create all types of presentations and
communication media.
infogram. Infogram is a web-based data
visualization and infographics platform, created in
Riga, Latvia. It allows people to create and share
digital charts, infographics and maps.
Infogram helps create infographics, reports, and
maps for your organization. Infographics from
Infogram help you tell a compelling data-driven
story and present your content with easy to
understand data that grabs the viewers attention.
Infogram operates as a data visualization tool with
the goal of making your data easy to understand,
discovering unknown facts/outliers/trends,
visualize relationship patterns, and ask better
questions. More advantages are presented in the
Figure 15.
Figure 15: 5 criteria ranking: Infogram.
Raw. RAWGraphs is an open source data
visualization framework built with the goal of
making the visual representation of complex data
easy for everyone. Primarily conceived as a tool
for designers and vis geeks, RAWGraphs aims
at providing a missing link between spreadsheet
applications (e.g. Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers,
OpenRefine) and vector graphics editors (e.g.
Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, Sketch) (Mauri et al.
2017). Based on the svg format, visualizations can
be easily edited with vector graphics applications
for further refinements, or directly embedded into
web pages.
Wordle. Wordle is a tool for editing “word
clouds” based on the Wordle. The initial word
cloud can be generated from the input text or
read from an existing one. You can re-font, re-
colore, resize, move, rotate, add and delete words
to create custom visualizations (Viegas et al.
2009). Wordle’s main benefit is that it allows
a neighborhood-preserving editing process, which
keeps words at predictable and close locations
during and after the editing process. Like Wordle,
the images you create with Wordle are yours to use
however you like. You can save them to your own
desktop to use as you wish. An illustrative example
made with wordle for the DataViz context can be
presented in the figure 16.
Figure 16: DataViz with Wordle.
Easel.ly. Easel.ly is where people can visualize
information easily through quick infographic
creation and data visualization. No design
background required! Easel.ly is an infographic
design tool and can create any visualized content
as any kind of information. Easel.ly provides many
templates, themes and any objects to edit your
detailed information in their designs (Weiner &
Lorber 2021).
5.2 Tools accessible to experienced users
5.2.1 JavaScript libraries
JavaScript is one of the most widely used scripting
languages for the client-side and is now heavily
used for creating appealing data visualizations
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study. 19

Table 5 Top 15 JavaScript Visualization Libraries.

JavaScript
Description
Library
– Best for building dynamic and interactive data visualizations for web browsers.
– D3.js is one of the most popular data visualization libraries being used by developers across
D3JS the globe and is used to manipulate documents based on data.
– It uses modern web standards like SVG, HTML, and CSS for building graphs, maps, and
pie charts.

– Best for teams and developers looking for basic charting requirements and an open-sourced
Charts.js product.

FusionCharts – It is best for web and enterprise application charting and data visualization requirements.

Taucharts – Best for teams building complex data visualizations.

Two.js – Best for open-source library for rendering 2-D shapes.

Pts.js – Best for composing objects as you perceive them with a basic level of abstraction as points.

Raphael.js – Best for creating detailed drawings and graphics with very few lines of code.

– Best for creating powerful user interface animation with support for all major modern
Anime.js browsers.

ReCharts – Best for teams looking to create charts for React-based web applications.

– Best for building advanced charts primarily for web-based Forex and stock-trading
TradingVue.js applications.

– Best for teams looking for an extensive charting library for supporting multiple platforms
HighCharts like web and mobile.

– Best for creating basic charts across multiple programming language libraries like Python,
ChartKick Ruby, JS, etc.

Pixi.js – Best for teams looking for JavaScript libraries to create digital content based on HTML5.

Three.js – Best for generating 3-D graphics for web-based applications.

ZDog – Best for open-sourced doesn’t give creating and rendering 3-D images for canvas and SVG.

for modern web and mobile browsers. The Table
5 including the top 15 libraries dedicated to
visualization will be able to describe them better.
5.2.2 Dashboard builders
Google Data Studio. Is an online data
visualization tool that helps users convert data into
informative reports and interactive dashboards.
It is a powerful tool to help marketers and business
owners use their data effectively by creating
interesting reports like this one (Serik et al. 2021).
Google Data Studio is essentially a streamlined
version of data visualization tools like Tableau and
Clickview. While you won’t have access to quite as
many features or coding capabilities, the platform
is free and pretty easy to use.
Unlike platforms like Google Analytics or
HubSpot, Data Studio is not a data source.
It doesn’t collect the data; rather, it combines
data from different sources, analyzes it, and then
20
lets you create interactive reports, charts, and
dashboards.
Toucan Toco. Is a cloud-based data
visualization tool. Intended for non-technical
business executives, the objective of this highly
configurable data visualization solution is to
provide essential information and data for decision-
making. With the application studio integrated
into the Toucan Toco solution, any structure
can create and display personalized BI (business
intelligence) applications (Arruabarrena 2017).
These applications can then be deployed on
different media and devices, and each application
can itself be integrated into a dashboard, a
graph, a PDF document. . . Connectable to other
applications, including those used in the daily
routine of companies , Toucan Toco also develops
APIs that allow it to integrate with other IT
solutions, such as Cognos Analytics and Salesforce,
for example. To retrieve the data to be used and
then displayed, this advanced reporting tool is
thus able to connect to more than a hundred
applications: Excel, Google Analytics, Microsoft
SQL ServerIn short, according to Charles Miglietti
one of the founding members, of a kind of
analytical application WordPress.
Data Hero. Is a data visualization software to
grow your business. DataHero is a cloud computing
business intelligence software platform specializing
in data visualization and dashboards. Visualize
and analyze data from all your cloud services.
DataHero is the fastest and easiest way to get
insights from your data. Create charts, reports, and
dashboards from your business data that you can
easily share with teams and clients (Pedersen &
Bossen 2021).
Looker. Is a cloud platform dedicated to data
visualization. It belongs to Google, and is its
analytics and business intelligence service. Its use
offers a better exploitation of professional resources
for different sectors of activity. As a business
intelligence platform, Looker integrates several
features, including many options dedicated to data
visualization. This includes the use of reporting
tools, the creation of dashboards, multicloud
storage, not to mention the customization of
the database. Coders have the ability to use
the LookML language to program visualization
parameters.
For professional use, Looker has many advantages.
It is a cloud platform that does not require
the installation of any software or application.
The maintenance of the system is thus greatly
facilitated. In addition, its accessibility is
optimized for the vast majority of web browsers,
such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Sharing
documents becomes more flexible, thanks to the
recognition of CSL format and text files.
6 DataViz’ issues
A good visualization illustrates the data so viewers
can quickly extract meaning. One of the most
common data visualization mistakes is including
too much information. This makes it difficult
for viewers to formulate takeaways. Likewise,
visualizations suffer when designers include too
many visual effects.
6.1 Why are most visualization designs
ineffective?
Data visualizations are often ineffective because
they are designed for the wrong audience in mind.
The perceived value of dashboards is lost due to
poor communication with end users. The data
visualization design process begins with learning
the audience who will use the dashboard.
6.2 What mistakes should be avoided in data
visualization?
Common errors include duplicate data, missed
data, unmarked NA values, etc. For example, in
this pie chart, the three sectors of the pie chart
add up to 193%, which makes no sense. Such errors
in the data would render your final visualizations
useless.
6.3 Does data visualization require coding?
You don’t need to write any code to easily create
an interactive data visualization. When it comes
to presenting data, spreadsheets and text-heavy
reports aren’t enough to explain what we found.
This is when we need data visualization to present
data in a way that helps everyone grasp difficult
concepts.
6.4 Why is misleading data bad?
If there is too much data presented or irrelevant,
the audience may not see the relevant information.
The more data displayed at once, the more difficult
it becomes to detect specific trends. Misleading
with too much data is often used to mislead the
public from small but relevant information.
 Big Data visualization and you : An empirical study.
6.5 Can the data be misleading?
The data can be misleading due to the sampling
method used to obtain the data. For example, the
size and type of sample used in any statistic plays
an important role – many polls and questionnaires
target certain audiences who provide specific
responses, resulting in small and biased sample
sizes.
6.6 7 ways to spot bad data
– Speeding.
– Open ends meaningless.
– Choose all options for a screening question.
– Failed quality control questions.
– Inconsistent numeric values.
– Straight line and patterns.
– Logically inconsistent answers.
7 Conclusion
Data visualization is a very important task
nowadays for the data scientist. the main reason
for recourse is decision-making. An interpretable,
relevant and innovative visualization can lead
to a right decision for a company knowing that
this decision could be radical. Conventional
visualization techniques cannot handle the
enormous volume, variety and velocity of data.
To do this, several tools have emerged and are
constantly evolving.
Thus, among other things, modeling for big data
is a valuable issue these days. In fact, data
modeling is a process that enables organizations to
discover, design, visualize, standardize and deploy
high-quality data assets through an intuitive
graphical interface. Now, A proper data model
serves as a blueprint for designing and deploying
databases that leverage higher-quality data sources
to improve application development and make
better decisions (Ribeiro et al. 2015, Patel 2019,
Zais et al. n.d.). So,we will be interested in the Big
Data modeling systems.
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