The Best Data Visualization Tools for Businesses

With the high daily data volume, many organizations need to understand it all to make well-informed decisions. To do this, professionals and stakeholders must understand what the data is saying. This is where data visualization comes in. It makes complex data understandable, allowing professionals to act based on factual information rather than intuition. 

Explore data visualization, why it’s essential, and the top tools for businesses to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the benefits of pie charts and other data visualizations. 

Read more: 5 Types of Data Visualization

What is data visualization?

Data visualization represents raw (sometimes complex) data in visual formats. Examples can include formats like animations, infographics, charts, and graphs. These visual elements bring data to life and reveal patterns, trends, and insights that might otherwise remain hidden in plain statistics or data models.

Professionals outside of data teams can use data visualization for several purposes. For example, professionals in management positions might use data visualization to showcase organizational information. In contrast, other business professionals might use data visualization to generate ideas, uncover trends, or tell a story.

Some standard data visualizations include:

• Pie charts

• Gantt charts

• Histograms

• Heat maps

• Waterfall charts

• Area charts

• Infographics

• Maps

• Box-and-whisker plots

Why data visualization is important

Effective data visualization helps decision-makers understand the data distribution more easily and uncover critical insights. It makes complex data more accessible and usable by the average person. Decision-makers can identify relationships and patterns, spot trends, and reveal data characteristics that may not have been otherwise apparent.

From a business perspective, data-driven decisions can validate professionals' instinctual decision-making and provide confidence when deciding the direction of the business. Visualizations allow business professionals to represent data in an easy-to-digest manner that can be shared with audiences and stakeholders. This provides a platform to discuss business questions and make informed decisions.

What are data visualization tools?

Data visualization tools, sometimes called information visualization tools, translate data into visual contexts, such as infographics, maps, graphs, and charts. These tools help interpret the data and manipulate it in ways that best show its characteristics. Before choosing a tool, examine its functionalities, ease of use, capabilities, and other distinguishing features to ensure it’s the right tool for your needs. 

Professions that use data visualization tools

Many organizations and fields use data visualization as a method to represent information and make complex data science accessible for people of all backgrounds. While you can likely use data visualization in any area where you want to showcase informational insights, some standout professions that use data visualization include:

• Data analysts

• Business intelligence analysts

• Business systems analysts

• Marketing specialists 

10 data visualization tools

Although you can choose more than one to incorporate into your business practices, it’s helpful to understand the various options available and how they might meet your project’s needs. When choosing the right tool, consider some of the following options:

1. Tableau

Established in 2003 as a Stanford computer science project, Tableau has become a leading data visualization tool due to its ease of use and high power. Its proprietary technology, VizQL, is intended to simplify data analysis and make data more accessible for the average user. Tableau integrates with hundreds of sources and has an extensive community of users.

Tableau can generate various visualization types, including bar charts, line charts, density maps, bubble charts, Gantt charts, and more. The free version, Tableau Public, is an excellent option for learning the basics but isn’t suitable for handling sensitive or proprietary data due to its open-access nature.

Read more: What Is Tableau? Features, Use Cases, and More

2. Microsoft Excel

While many people use Excel as a spreadsheet program, it is also a powerful data analysis and visualization tool. It provides various chart types, graphs, and formulas that can handle complex statistical analysis. Excel’s data visualization tools are customizable, allowing users to emphasize different aspects of their data by adjusting colors, sizes, labels, and more.

In addition to data visualization capabilities, Excel is easy to access on your mobile phone and share your spreadsheets with collaborators. It can be an excellent choice for professionals who work on collaborative projects on multiple devices and want to ensure all collaborators have the latest version.

Read more: What Is Excel? Formulas, Functions, and More

3. Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI markets itself as a scalable platform for self-service and business intelligence purposes. You may benefit from using Microsoft Power BI because of the familiar user experience if you commonly use Microsoft products. 

Power BI is similar to Excel in features but expands capabilities to import data from various sources and output more diverse visualizations. Microsoft BI also boasts increased data security measures, protecting your data and reports while using the interface and after exporting to alternate formats.

4. Datawrapper

Datawrapper is an online tool for creating graphics such as maps and charts. It is easy to use and prevalent among journalists and other non-technical professionals who need to create attractive, interactive graphics quickly and easily.

One thing to note is that Datawrapper may be more limited than other visualization software. For example, you can’t integrate different data sources with Datawrapper. You have to copy and paste your data into the platform, which can be time-consuming if your data is sensitive or complex.

5. Google Charts

Google Charts is a free, web-based tool offering various charts and maps in its Chart Gallery. You might choose Google Charts to create straightforward, easy-to-understand visualizations quickly. Google Charts works with Google Sheets, making importing and updating data easy if you already use the Google platform.

6. Qlik Sense

Qlik Sense provides various tools to help businesses understand their data better. Its distinguishing feature is an associative analytics engine paired with artificial intelligence and a cloud platform, which allows you to explore your data from multiple perspectives. 

This software allows you to create and share interactive dashboards, develop custom apps, and generate reports with embedded operational visuals. It also facilitates location-driven decisions through GeoSpatial Analysis.

7. Looker

Looker is a cloud-based platform that stands out for its data modeling language, LookML. This language allows users to define complex business metrics, create custom dimensions, and build semantic data models, providing a high degree of control and flexibility.

8. Domo

Domo provides direct, simplified, real-time access to business data without requiring technical expertise. Top features of Domo include the ability to build an intuitive dashboard, automate reporting, and access the models on mobile devices.

9. Yellowfin

Yellowfin is a business intelligence platform that combines data visualization with machine learning to provide automated analysis, storytelling, and dashboard canvases. Its Assisted Insights automatically highlights essential findings in the data, generates alerts, and offers AI-assisted answers to user questions.

10. Visme

Visme allows users to create infographics and presentations with an extensive library of templates, images, icons, and charts. Users can access over 1,000,000 stock images and videos, diverse front options, and vector graphics to design branding and visual content. 

Practice data visualization.

Using data visualization tools can allow you to incorporate data-driven decisions into your profession. To begin, find resources to learn tips, tricks, and key practices. Some ways to start include: 

• Read blogs: To learn from industry experts, consider checking out top blogs to hear about people’s experiences, top tricks, and critiques on modern graphics. Doing this can help you learn the latest trends and collect insights on how to begin. 

• Read books: Options such as Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring by Stephen Few and Beautiful Visualization, Looking at Data Through the Eyes of Experts by Julie Steele and Noah Iliinsky can help you become familiar with the basics.

• Take an online course: Platforms such as Coursera offer data visualization courses appropriate for beginners and advanced users alike and cover tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Excel.

Once you are ready to begin working with data and practicing your skills, consider starting with free online platforms and data sets. Many data visualization tools have learning resources available. For instance, Tableau provides Tableau Public, a free service where you can publish interactive data visualizations to the web. You can also start using Datawrapper immediately with its free plan. If you don’t have data available, you can choose from sample datasets on the platform and comprehensive tutorials to create your first chart or map.

Learn more on Coursera.

You have many data visualization tools available to optimize your data’s value. These tools help make data more usable, uncover critical insights, and assist with decision-making, which is why learning how to work with data visualization tools can be a valuable addition to your skill set.

To continue exploring data visualization and analysis, consider enrolling in the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate on Coursera. This course equips learners with the necessary skills to turn raw data into impactful insights in as little as six months.