Introduction to Data Visualisation

The aim of this Introduction to Data Visualisation course is to improve the data visualisation literacy of delegates, and in doing so increase their confidence and competence in creating effective charts.

In any data-based role, the importance of simple, effective and impactful data visualisation is becoming ever more important and therefore it is key that individuals know how to correctly create charts that tell effective and truthful data stories.

Suitability

The course is either suited for individuals in the early stages of their professional career or for individuals in their first data centric role. It is also suitable for those that feel less confident in how to create the right visualisations for the data that they analyse.

As the title suggests, it is a beginner/ introduction course, with all visualisations derived from Excel/ PowerPoint, therefore there isn’t a pre-requisite for knowing how to code or use specific visualisation software like Tableau or Power BI.

There is a benefit in a team taking this training as it would establish a base level of understanding and application and set standards for the creation of data visualisations.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course participants should be able to:

Describe what is data visualisation and the role it plays in data centric roles.
Identify the different chart elements that make up a data visualisation.
Name the 4 different data types that will typically fuel your charts and how these can influence your choice of data visualisation.
Utilise best practice when creating 10 different chart types that will from your core visualisation portfolio.
Know how to personalise your visualisation to make it more persuasive with your end consumer.

Course Content

What is data and data visualisation
Why do we create data visualisations
4 key reasons why we create data visualisations
Breakout session: why visualisations are or could be important in our roles
Chart elements
What are the different chart elements that make up a visualisation
Group exercise to identify chart elements on a visualisation and to define their role
How data and the story influence chart choice
Data measurement scales
Introduce the four different measurement scales of Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio
Exercise to test understanding of measurement scales
Data Stories
Introduce the four different story types of Comparison, Distribution, Composition and Relationship
Group discussion on which stories are most prevalent in our roles
Introduce Abela Chart type hierarchy for helping chose your chart type
The chart portfolio (The 10 different types)
Charts include: Vertical Bar, Horizontal Bar, Line Chart, Slope Chart, Scatter Plot, Bubble Chart, Pie Chart, Stacked Bar, Area Chart, Histogram
Introducing what each is visualising, the different data stories that use these charts and best practices on how to correctly create them
Exercises to create different chart types and test understanding of best practice
Ideas to elevate your visuals
Personalising your visualisation to increase its persuasive power – hone the idea – make it stand out – adjust what is around it
Personal action plan for practices and implementation

100%

of our clients would recommend Alpha to a colleague or peer

90%

of a cohort was promoted within 2 years after participating in an Alpha course.

96%

of participants felt more confident in their role, following an Alpha commercial leadership course.

Why study with Alpha?

Innovation and creativity born from experience

We are thought leaders in instructional and learning journey design and holistic solution architects. We have extensive finance and investments experience combined with skills application to deliver performance improving results. We develop immersive learning environments that maximize time to productivity, support talent retention and added value to improving quality of hires.

Knowledge Exchange Evangelists

We are focused on mining the embedded organisational intellectual capital for the benefit of the next generation. We create and curate best in class practice gathered from our experience with the leading financial institutions. We design our programmes with the end in mind – what results are you trying to achieve with this intervention? What metrics will we set ourselves to achieve that?

Generation Proof

Quality and innovation, using current market and industry best practices, have made us a trusted partner in delivering dynamic and motivating training for the financial and capital markets. Our programmes are generation proof and responsive to evolving learner needs and styles. Our solutions use a multi-stakeholder engagement strategy that expands beyond relationships between the learner and learning provider. We create connections with managers, peers and the wider business to drive impactful return on investment..

Enquire now

"*" indicates required fields

The team are so friendly and pleasant to work with, everyone is very professional and keen to help us. Building a relationship over the past couple of years helps us to feel like the Alpha team are even more able to understand our needs and provide more proactive solutions.