Question

Liberty is constantly evaluating its performance for improving efficiencies in all its operations, including the commercial operations as well its charitable activities.

1. What data visualization techniques would you use to help understand sales patterns?

2. What data visualization technique would you use to categorize its customers?

Answer 1

1. Data visualization techniques for sales patterns:

a) Indicators:

These are used with graphs to show KPI. They help in giving instant ideas about the sales a business is making. Gauge indicators can also be incorporated for target audience and understanding that one is moving in the right direction.

b) Line charts:

These are used to display sales trends. They are used for a big range of business and they are helpful in understanding the overall trend concisely. Line charts avoid the misinterpretation of results. They can be used for different categories of sales.

c) Bar charts:

They are used to compare various sales values and are used with color codes. The values can be shown with huge spikes and other product lines. One can easily add other categories such as age group and focus on the growth of a specific pattern.

d) Column charts:

When one needs to compare the values side-by-side, column charts can be used. They show change with time and can be used to make sense of the trends. They are used along with website pages, or series of views and dates.

2. Data visualization techniques for categorizing customers:

a) Affinity diagrams:

These are used to visually organize the information that might be disconnected. It is also used in the form of sticky notes. It can also be used to show hidden associations as well as revealing patterns in latent themes.

b) Fishbones:

This is a cause and effect structure that helps in displaying the cause of an issue. The team will generally brainstorm some ideas and stated problems will be searched until root cause is found. They can be easily drawn on a paper or with six sigma tools.

c) Journey maps:

These are used to show the journey of the customer while engaging with the product. The data gathered is used to market, sales, and develop better products. The fragmented information is generated and can be unified in the end. Sometimes there are friction points that can help in damage control when used properly.

d) Scatterplots:

These are used to display data in the form of two or more variables. This is helpful when there is a need to understand the relationship between existing categories of customers. It shows either a strong or weak association of customers with service and products.