#data14 - CrowdChat

Tableau Conf. '14 Preview

Preview of the upcoming Tableau Conference 2014 taking place on September 8-12, 2014 in Seattle.

#data14 @furrier @jeffreyfkelly

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So let’s kick things off. #BigData and data visualization get mentioned in the same breath a lot, but how do you view the relationship between the two?

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Well, one striking example for me is that I do data visualization but don't do Big Data. :-)

From my persp, data viz is critical in "data storytelling", making sense of large volumes of messy data

I think Big Data really needs data viz to be helpful, because there's just so much to look at that it's easy to get lost. But data viz definitely doesn't require Big Data -- there are lots of other kinds of data that really benefit.

@susanbaier good point - visualizing smaller data sets can be just as compelling - the value is in the insights, not necessarily the volume or type of data

I would agree about the storytelling, but insights can be hard to see even with relatively little data, sometimes.

But as the sources of data expand and the inter-relationships of data sources grows more complex, the more important data viz becomes

I think it's the aggregation that is the key part. Without aggregation big data is too much. Visualization as a field has lots of solutions for aggregation.

Unfortunately I think the two have become inextricably linked in the minds of many, so folks working with other-than-Big-Data automatically exclude data viz options as relevant for them.

@susanbaier Big Data simply implies more potential tiers of analysis, e.g., a "big data" cluster analysis of social media can lead you to the small pockets of the most interesting conversations.

@AlanMorrison but I think Big Data often refers to huge data sets as well. Additional challenges there.

There are only so many kinds of data visualization, (http://www.visual-li...), and the best, most broadly grasped visualizations reflect a distillation of findings, i.e., big data made small and then visualized.

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

Yes, then you're finding patterns in big datasets that you wouldn't find in small datasets to begin with. But the patterns aren't displayed as big data. Rather, as distilled representations.

What @austindahl calls aggregation is a part of this.

I like the @jeffreyfkelly point on storytelling, and we've discovered that creating context with the help of full-sentence labels helps, http://www.pwc.com/e...

Visual storytelling isn't easy, but it is rewarding.

We hear a lot about the democratization of data and "self-service" business intelligence, but why is it so important to make data visualization capabilities accessible to “regular” business people?

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Because those people are using alternatives that don't allow them to see the data as well, and are tremendously time-consuming to boot. Efficiency and excellence for the win!

Better decisions, made faster? That's the pitch. There's evidence that it's happening.

@austindahl but is there a risk that "untrained" users could misinterpret the data?

I don't think organizations today do the "command and control" thing much. If we put the decisions in the hands of the regulars, we ought to give them the tools to make good decisions.

@austindahl That risk exists now. Less likely with better visualizations, easier tools.

There's a risk that anyone can misinterpret the data.

-> "Easy as Excel?"

abstracting away the complexity of the data science is key to make data wrangling and discovery easier

What are the biggest “gotchas” to watch out for when visualizing data? What are some best practices to avoid misinterpreting data? Is it just having a skeptical mindset or do we need tools to help?

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Averaging and aggregation can hide outliers -- that's one small gotcha.

@austindahl doesn't #BigData approaches like #Hadoop minimize the need to aggregate data? Sampling is dead, no?

@austindahl Agreed. I think a big "gotcha", esp for new users, is to get caught up in the pretty charts and ignore the value of simplicity. Too much, too fancy, kills a viz.

the issues is really having more connectors to more data sources. Then having algos help in the "wrangling" the data sets for "play with"

Remember when we first got smartphones and all downloaded 250 apps in the first 12 hours? Same thing happens with viz software for new users. So much you CAN do. Takes time to learn what you SHOULD do.

@susanbaier great point - always remember the goal of data visualization is to communicate insights to others in as effective way as possible - pretty pictures should be a consequence, not a goal, of data visualization

Sampling is different from aggregation.

I've never had an easy time making sense of 100M data items without some sort of aggregation, so I disagree.

@furrier I agree with John. Some augmentation to fill out the wrangling toolbelt would be quite useful.

So what is everyone looking forward to at #data14 this year? What is the biggest value of the show? Peer networking? Direct convo with Tableau execs?

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For me, it's the networking.

For me it's meeting other folks working with data in ways I hadn't considered, and learning how to make my own visualizations better.

Personally looking forward to hearing Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson - I bet he does amazing things with data

Tableau conferences are just a big geek data celebration - great to just soak that in.

Hans Rosling ought to be entertaining as well.

Oh yeah, NdGT will be a big hit this year. My 14 year old daughter is VERY upset that she can't come with me to meet him.

@austindahl For sure.

@susanbaier celebration is a good word to describe it - the vibe at the show is very festive - unlike a lot of other enterprise tech shows

I don't have anyone to talk about visualization with, in my own business - I love being around other viz peeps

I think that's partly due to the incredible excitement and enthusiasm that Tableau folks have for what they're doing, and why. It's infectious.

@austindahl yea, i've never heard Rosling speak but I hear he's great and uses data in interesting ways

@austindahl Rosling's become the poster child of data viz... I think the Ancestry.com talks might be interesting, a way to rethink content as data and do relationship analytics in compelling ways.

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Welcome everyone and thanks for joining the Tableau Conference 2014 preview CrowdChat.

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awesome to be here from #vmworld where bigdata analytics are talked about in the datacenter

joining in from #vmworld as well, great to be here on @CrowdChatApp !

@kelsey_mulcahy First time I've used this app.... makes it easy to follow threads and engage more.

On a related note, and not to pander to Tableau, but having been to two of its conferences I can say first hand that its customers LOVE the company. Why are they so enamored? Is it just a great product or is there something more to it?

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For me it's because they really listen to their customers, and work every day to make their product exceed those expectations. They really do care how people are using, and want to use, their software, and what they can do to help.

Hard not to love a company that loves you first.

We're getting to the end of the chat so wanted to share some highlights from last year's #theCUBE ... Nate Silver joined @dvellante and I to discuss his soon to launch FiveThirtyEight site at ESPN https://www.youtube....

Nate Silver - Tableau Customer Conference 2013 - theCUBE
Nate Silver, a statistician who earned celebrity status after accurately predicting the results of the 2012 presidential election, stopped by theCUBE at this...

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the Congressional Budget Office's Jon Schwabish joined us to talk data visualization and his thoughts on how Congress and economists must learn to communicate through data viz better https://www.youtube....

Jon Schwabish - Tableau Customer Conference 2013 - theCUBE
Jon Schwabish, Congressional Budget Office, at Tableau Customer Conference 2013 with Dave Vellante and Jeff Kelly From the 2013 Tableau Customer Conference i...

Personally, the Bruce Boston interview was one of the best ones last year.