Data Fluency: Empowering Your Organization with Effective Data Communication

There is a colossal disconnect between the volumes of data collected by organizations and the people who might make use of it. This gap can be bridged by creating understandable, focused, thoughtful data presentation tools. These tools -- whether in the form of reporting, dashboards, visualizations, or KPIs -- require unique skills to shape the data to the needs of different audiences. More broadly, organizations need to recognize that creating, distributing, and refining these tools takes careful thought. They require a culture that values the impact of data on decision-making, a willingness to test new data presentation tools, and flexibility to adjust and refine these tools to make them more useful. In essence, these data tools are products that need to be conceived, designed, targeted to specific people, and adopted by users. When this happens, end users can embrace data as a guide totheir decisions. Topics covered in this book include: The different challenges organizations face with data reporting and communication Finding a fit between audience/user needs and the right data presentation tools Designing effective data presentation tools, including choices in visualizations, layout, and styling Effective design patterns for data presentation tools and common failures Engaging and retaining consumers of data presentation tools The book is intended to help people within organizations responsible for reporting and dashboards by giving them the framework and skills to design effective ways to display data, understand what information should be shown to which audiences, and get people to adopt and use data in their daily decision-making.