In today’s construction industry, where project data is characterized by complexity and multi-level structure, visualization plays a key role. Visualization of data allows project managers and engineers to visualize complex patterns and trends hidden in large, heterogeneous volumes of data.
Visualizing data makes it easier to understand the status of a project: resource allocation, cost trends or material usage. Graphs and charts make complex and dry information accessible and understandable, allowing you to quickly identify key areas that need attention and identify potential problems.
Visualization of data not only facilitates the interpretation of information, it is a critical step in the analytical process and informed management decision-making, helping to answer the questions “what happened?” and “how did it happen?” (Fig. 2.2-5).
Graphics are visual tools for solving logical problems (J. Bertin, “Graphics and Graphic Information Processing,” 8 September 2011).
– Jacques Bertin, “Graphics and Graphical Information Processing
Before making key decisions, project managers are more likely to use visual representations of data rather than dry and difficult to interpret numbers from spreadsheets or text messages.
Data without visualization is like building materials strewn haphazardly on a construction site: their potential is unclear. It is only when they are visualized clearly, like bricks and concrete in a house, that their value becomes clear. Until the house is built, it is impossible to say whether the pile of materials will become a small hut, a luxury villa or a skyscraper.
Companies have data from various systems (Fig. 1.2-4 to Fig. 2.1-10), financial transactions, and extensive text data. However, utilizing this data for business benefit is often challenging. In such situations, visualization becomes an important tool for communicating the meaning of the data, which helps present the information in formats that any expert can understand, such as dashboards, graphs, and charts.
PwC’s study “What Students Need to Succeed in a Fast-Changing Business World” (2015) emphasizes (PWC, “Data driven What students need to succeed in a rapidly changing business world,” February 15, 2015) that successful companies go beyond data analysis and actively use interactive visualization tools such as graphs, infographics, and analytical dashboards to support decision making.According to the report – data visualization helps customers understand the story that data tells through charts, graphs, diagrams, dashboards and interactive data models.
The process of converting information into visual graphic forms such as charts, graphs, and diagrams improves the human brain’s understanding and interpretation of data (Fig. 7.1-4). This allows project managers and analysts to more quickly assess complex scenarios and make informed decisions based not on intuition, but on visually recognizable trends and patterns.
The issues of creating visualizations from data, and the use of various free visualization libraries, will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter on ETL -processes.
Visualization is becoming an integral element of working with data in the construction industry – it helps not only to “see” data, but also to understand its meaning in the context of management tasks. However, for visualization to be truly useful, it is necessary to determine in advance what exactly should be visualized and what metrics are really important for assessing project performance. This is where performance metrics such as KPIs and ROI come into play. Without them, even the most beautiful dashboards run the risk of being just “information noise”.
