3 steps to create an amazing visualization project.
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For last couple of years, I am sharpening my skills in business intelligence field. One of the best methods to achieve that is by creating projects. With this simple goal, I have converted my thought process in three steps to help me convert boring data into an insightful visualization like the one below.
(total time: 1–4 hours)
i. Which specific area you are passionate about? (time: 15 mts)
Environment, COVID-19, Social Justice, Health, Crime, Technology …
ii. Which dataset to use? (time: 3 hrs)
(It is easy to get lost in many of the amazing datasets available. Select just one or two and understand them thoroughly. Document the findings to use them for future projects without re-inventing the wheel.)
a) https://www.gapminder.org/data Global data from various sources.
b) https://data.worldbank.org Global Development data.
c) https://www.data.gov U. S. Government’s open data.
d) https://msropendata.com Microsoft Research’s open data.
e) https://www.kaggle.com/datasets Kaggle’s data.
f) Adventureworks database Microsoft’s fictional database.
iii. Which tools to use ?(time: 15 mts)
Start with just a few tools and expand the list gradually in future projects.
Power BI, Tableau, Excel, Word document, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, Azure Services, Python, R & more…
(time: 2–4 hrs)
Example includes my project about CO2 Emission
Goal: Keep building an expertise in the business intelligence field including ETL, analysis, and presentation.
Objective: Extract critical insights about CO2 emissions and present it with impactful visualization with Power BI.
Data Resources: https://www.gapminder.org/data/
Data Sets: Emission > Total CO2 emissions, Total Population
Technical Resources: MS Excel, Power BI
Timeline: Finish project in 3 days.
(time: 2 days)
Follow the process below and create an amazing visualization.
RE-CAP:
Document: Follow the process, track it, document it and keep moving forward by adhering to a timeline.
Finish: Finish the first project with minimum technologies and apps instead of trying to include everything you know or want to do. Finishing the first project will energize you for the next bigger project.
Repeat: Learn and apply other tools and methods. Learn from mistakes. Make the next project even better.
