STEPHEN FEW'S VISUAL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOP

SAVE 10% and register for the full workshop before March 1st 2018!

Taught by Nick Desbarats

Show me the numbers and Information Dashboard design

Affecto Academy offers an excellent course on data analysis and presentation taught by Nick Desbarats (Nick on Youtube: @nickdesb). This workshop was originally developed by Stephen Few of Perceptual Edge, the world’s leading thinker in data visualization, and is now taught by Nick Desbarats, Principal at Practical Reporting Inc., who has been teaching Mr. Few’s courses since 2014 and has updated the course content for this workshop. Currently, Nick is the only instructor authorized to teach Stephen Few's workshops.

No information is more important to a business than quantitative information — the numbers that measure performance, identify opportunities, and forecast the future. Most quantitative information is presented as tables and graphs. Unfortunately, most tables and graphs used in business today are poorly designed —often to the point of misinformation. This workshop will introduce best practices in data visualization that yield effective table and graph designs.

Dashboards have become a very popular means to present critical business information at a glance. Technology investments, however, are not enough to guarantee success. Well-designed dashboards engage the power of human visual perception so that essential information can be consumed in an instant and with exceptional clarity.

Stephen Few is known for his four popular books on data visualization: Show Me the Numbers, Information Dashboard Design, Now You See It and Signal. Each attendee in this workshop will get a copy of the books Show Me the Numbers and Information Dashboard Design.

This workshop consists of two separate workshops

1.  Show me the Numbers (Days 1-2)

2.  Information Dashboard Design (Day 3)

Daily schedule

08:15 – 09:00 Registration and breakfast
09:00 – 11:45 Lecture (including 15 min recess around 10:30)
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 14:30 Lecture
14:30 – 14:50 Recess / coffee break
14:50 – 16:30 Lecture (including short recess)

1. Show Me the Numbers (Days 1-2)

This course alleviates countless hours of confusion and frustration. Following Stephen Few’s clear precepts, communicated through examples of what works, what doesn’t, and explanations of why, you will learn to design tables and graphs that present data clearly and drive your message home. This two-day version of the course differs from the previous one-day version in part by including more content (for example, more information about table design), but mostly by adding many more group exercises and extended discussions to drive the principles home and build a firmer foundation for the development of expertise. You will leave this course having developed table and graph design skills that will stick with you and add immediate value to your work.

This course covers the following topics

• The current state and challenges of quantitative data presentation
• Introduction to table and graph design
  • Fundamental challenges of data presentation
  • Key characteristics of quantitative information
  • Differing characteristics and uses of tables and graphs
  • Eight common quantitative relationships featured in graphs
  • Visual perception and how it applies to data presentation
  • Steps in the visual design process
• Table design
• Graph design
  • Visual objects used to encode values in graphs, and the best uses of each
  • Matching the right visual encoding objects to the eight fundamental quantitative relationships in graphs
  • Graph design at the component level

2. Information Dashboard Design (Day 3)

This course will teach you how to recognize the common problems in dashboard design, match your message to the right means of display and how to avoid clutter and arrange data in a way that communicates clearly and at a glance.

This course covers the following topics: 

• The current state of dashboards
• The definition and potential benefits of dashboards
• The fundamental challenges of dashboard design
• The 13 common mistakes in dashboard design
• The characteristics of well-designed dashboards
• Steps in the dashboard design process
• Common dashboard information and techniques for enriching its meaning
• Selecting appropriate media for displaying the data
• An ideal library of dashboard display mechanisms
• The best practices of dashboard design