About the Author

Mark Stacey founded Pragmatic Works South Africa (a company specializing in data management and presentation) and Aphelion Software (software for visualization). He has developed visualizations for major corporations and the South African government. Joe Salvatore is a Business Intelligence Architect with Pragmatic Works. He has been a database architect, business intelligence developer, and application developer for more than 15 years. Adam Jorgensen is President of Pragmatic Works, Director at Large for the Professional Association of SQL Server, and a Microsoft SQL Server MVP. He regularly speaks at industry events.

Book Description

Go beyond design concepts and learn to build state-of-the-art visualizations

The visualization experts at Microsoft's Pragmatic Works have created a full-color, step-by-step guide to building specific types of visualizations. The book thoroughly covers the Microsoft toolset for data analysis and visualization, including Excel, and explores best practices for choosing a data visualization design, selecting tools from the Microsoft stack, and building a dynamic data visualization from start to finish. You'll examine different types of visualizations, their strengths and weaknesses, and when to use each one.

Data visualization tools unlock the stories within the data, enabling you to present it in a way that is useful for making business decisions

This full-color guide introduces data visualization design concepts, then explains the various Microsoft tools used to store and display data

Features a detailed discussion of various classes of visualizations, their uses, and the appropriate tools for each

Includes practical implementations of various visualizations and best practices for using them

Covers out-of-the-box Microsoft tools, custom-developed illustrations and implementations, and code examples

Visual Intelligence: Microsoft Tools and Techniques for Visualizing Data arms you with best practices and the knowledge to choose and build dynamic data visualizations.

From the Back Cover

Create visualizations that are right for your data

When we speak of visualizing data, we must keep in mind that any representation of data other than simple text is indeed visualization. But not all visualizations are suited to all forms of data.

Bar, column, and line charts; scorecards and key performance indicators; network maps; tables; and custom graphics drawn by an illustrator are all visualization techniques that, when used appropriately, will convey the meaning of data. In this full-color book, you'll discover the different visualization types and, more importantly, learn how to choose and create one based on the data you have.

Learn to choose an appropriate visualization for your data

See how visualizations differ from infographics

Explore Microsoft's visualization tools, including PerformancePoint®, SharePoint®, Excel, Power Pivot, and PowerView

Find out how to use 3D effectively

Use HTML5 and related technologies to create your own custom visualizations

Examine several useful visualization strategies, complete with examples of available tools

Companion website

Find all the code samples used in the book on the companion website, www.wiley.com/go/visualintelligence, along with screen captures of various visualizations.