In today's construction industry, where project data is characterized by complexity and multi-level structure, visualization plays a key role. Data visualization allows project managers and engineers to visualize complex patterns and trends hidden in large, heterogeneous volumes of data.
Data visualization makes it easier to understand the state of a project: resource allocation, cost trends or material usage. Through graphs and charts, complex and dry information becomes accessible and understandable, allowing to quickly identify key areas for attention and spot potential problems.
Data visualization is the first step towards business process analysis and analytics.
Data visualization doesn't just make information easier to interpret, it is a critical first step in the analytical process and in making informed management decisions. Before making key decisions, project managers are more likely to use visual representations of data rather than dry and difficult to interpret figures from spreadsheets or text messages.
Data that is not supported by visualization is like building materials strewn haphazardly on a site: its potential is not clear. Only when a clear visualization emerges from them - like a house made of bricks and concrete - does it become clear what value they hold. Until the house is built, it is hard to say whether the pile of materials will become a cozy hut, a luxury villa or skyscraper.
In the context of business processes, companies have data from various systems (ERP, CRM, etc.), financial transactions, and vast amounts of textual data, including contracts, agreements, feedback, comments, and company logs. However, it is not always clear how this data can be maximized for the overall benefit of the business.
In such situations, visualization becomes an important tool for conveying meaning in data, which helps to present information in formats understandable to any expert, such as dashboards, graphs, and charts.
The process of digesting and turning information into visual graphic forms such as charts, graphs improve the human brain's understanding and interpretation of data and enables project managers and analysts to quickly assess complex scenarios and make informed decisions based on facts rather than intuition (the creation of visualisations will be discussed in more detail in the chapter "ETL and Process Automation").
Different types of visualization are created to help the human brain better understand and comprehend the dry information of numbers (values from attributes)
Data visualization can reveal business trends, which, through analysis and analytics, can help create KPIs (key performance indicators) for individual specialists and departments, as well as make predictions for the next quarter or fiscal year using historical company data.
