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Data Visualization Book List
Top Five Books for Making a Powerful Visual for Data
Data Visualization is a visual representation of an analysis to communicate a story or findings from data. This is a focus or a piece of data analytics. As an analyst, part of the work is finding answers the other is relating results to stakeholders. Using pictures is a fast way to tell a story. This is is usually done with a single visual or multiple on a dashboard. There are over 30 types of data visuals. The bar, line, and pivot chart are examples of common visualizations that communicate results from data analysis.
The way a visual is built can vary with data pipelined from a database or extracted from a spreadsheet. There are many choices available for visualizations including color, font, size, shape, and type. There are resources online for guidance on how to create and design a data visualization.
Here are five books for data visualization:
- Story Telling with Data — by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
- Visualize This — by Yau
- Effective Data Storytelling — by Dykes
- Cool Infographics — by Krum
- The Functional Art — by Cairo
These are books for reading, reference and are focused on data visualization. The way findings from analysis are communicated are a key way to generate insights and buy-in from stakeholders. The results are important, but delivery matters. Using “best choice” visuals with adequate definition and labeling can make a big impact.
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