Best Data Visualization Tools

What Are Data Visualization Tools?

A tool designed specifically to create visualization which are highly customized to the very last details, pre and post production, having links and compatibility with all kinds of data sources and then to be able to bring them all together or one large but a revealing and insightful narrative. So, for the audience to understand, the intention of the presenter, the one that imagines the story, is conveyed using these tools. Only the inputs in this case, are millions of rows of data of all types coming together for the purpose they are designed. A Picture is worth a million numbers.

Data visualization tools provide data visualization designers with an easier way to create visual representations of large data sets. When dealing with data sets that include hundreds of thousands or millions of data points, automating the process of creating a visualization, at least in part, makes a designer’s job significantly easier.

These data visualizations can then be used for a variety of purposes: dashboards, annual reports, sales and marketing materials, investor slide decks, and virtually anywhere else information needs to be interpreted immediately.Large data set analysis requires tailored visual representation tools, that help condense the learning from data sets with millions of information points, into graphical representations that emboss the findings and are easily understood, accessible, and are shareable.

At its core, a DV tool enables the designer or decision-maker to imagine data in visual representations, that is condensed, focused, and create the easiest yet the most sophisticated ways of representing it.DV tools have visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps, data visualization tools provide an accessible way to see and understand very complex data sets.

Data Visualization Tools Comparison

The current market is flooded with dozens of codes, apps, tools, and visualizations, most of them very basic and most of them do the same thing without being very different. But the winners have capabilities beyond the regular tools for the types of visualizations they can create or are significantly easier to use than the other options out there.

Data Visualization Tools:

Tableau (and Tableau Public): Tableau, is one of the most popular and used visual analytics software with a wide range of options available. It can be insatlled and used on desktops, server, hosted online, and a free public option. But what it also does well is to be able to integrate hundreds of data types, through its import options. It can work the most common form of files used like, CSV files to Google Ads and Analytics data to Salesforce data.

But where tableau really comes into its own and really differs is in its visual charts and other Output options. These include multiple chart formats as well as mapping capability. That means designers can create color-coded maps that enable almost GIS level analysis only in a more controlled and representative context of the business problem at hand.

Where it really gains eyeballs, is through their public version. It is used these days anyone to create some of the most engaging and highly complex and intelligent gallery of infographics and visualizations for the public users and all this come for FREE!! Really aiding its popularity. From journalists to political junkies to those who just want to quantify the data of their own lives, there are tons of potential uses for Tableau Public.

Peos :
1) Hundreds of data import options.
2) Mapping capability.
3) Free public version availablebr.
4)Lots of video tutorials to walk you through how to use Tableau

Cons:
1) Non-free versions are expensive ($70/month/user for the Tableau Creator software).
2) Public version does not allow you to keep data analyses private.

Infogram : On the other end, infogram, is tool which even non-design can easily use. Key here is the usability as stressed upon in earlier, what this does is, that open the definition of the target market. Infogram is a fully featured drag-and-drop visualization tool that allows even non-designers to create effective visualizations of data for marketing reports, infographics, social media posts, maps, dashboards, and more. And as stressed upon in the article earlier, inter-operability between systems and the output being compatible in different Operating systems is of vital importance, here also infogram does well, the Finished visualizations can be exported into a number of formats: .PNG, .JPG, .GIF, .PDF, and .HTML.

Not only that, as is increasingly popular now amongst online content are the moving charts or interactive or creative charts, that help tell a story, so in infogram there are Interactive visualizations, perfect for embedding into different touchpoints for the business.
Critically, for infogram, these include, websites or apps, and offers a WordPress plugin that makes embedding visualizations even easier for WordPress users.

Pros:
1) Tiered pricing, including a free plan with basic features.
2) Includes 35+ chart types and 550+ map types.
3) Drag and drop editor.
API for importing additional data sources.

Cons:
1) Significantly fewer built-in data sources than some other apps.

ChartBlocks : Like the two above, chartblocks unique selling proposition is its compatibility. It claims that data can be imported from “anywhere” using their API, including from live feeds. This suggests that it more complex than other apps, but chartblocks says importing data from any source can be done in “just a few clicks. However, there are other apps that have automated modules or extensions for specific data sources. Another one of its advantages it is personalization or customization in the created output. The app allows for extensive customization of the final visualization created, and the chart building wizard helps users pick exactly the right data for their charts before importing the data.

Designers can create virtually any kind of chart, and the output is responsive—a big advantage for data visualization designers who want to embed charts into websites that are likely to be viewed on a variety of devices.
Pros :
1)Free and reasonably priced paid plans are available.
2)Easy to use wizard for importing the necessary data

Cons 1) Unclear how robust their API is. 2) Doesn’t appear to have any mapping capability.

Datawrapper
Tools above are used by all for generic to advanced purposes with different capabilities, however, tools which are made specifically for certain industries like web publishing need not required high levels of complexity but to be able to imbed into the story being told and feel native and add to the narrative more efficiently.

A widely used tool with above focus on specific functionality is Datawrapper. Its unique selling proposition is the charts and mapping capability which are a standout from the rest. This also rounds up the 4 most common traits of successful data visualization tools. The tool is specifically designed to be compatible with web publishing technologies. It has worked well because of their focus on adding charts and maps to news stories. The charts and maps created are interactive and made for embedding on news websites.Once data is imported, charts can be created with a single click.

Their visualization types include column, line, and bar charts, election donuts, area charts, scatter plots, choropleth and symbol maps, and locator maps, among others. However, their data sources are limited, though, with the primary method being copying and pasting data into the tool. But they are made for specific purposes, so all data sets are not used in this type of visualization, rather focus is then shifted to the finished visualizations.In datawrapper they look and feel like the ones on New York Times or Boston Globe. In fact, their charts are used by publications like Mother Jones, Fortune, and The Times.

The free plan is perfect for embedding graphics on smaller sites with limited traffic, but paid plans are on the expensive side, starting at $39/month. Pros :
1) Specifically designed for newsroom data visualization.
2) Free plan is a good fit for smaller sites.
3) Tool includes a built-in color blindness checker.

Cons : 1) Limited data sources.
2) Paid plans are on the expensive side.