Factors to consider when selecting visualization software
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Types of Visualizations
Two great sites that illustrate and describe types of visualizations, and provide suggestions for appropriate software for each type:
Software Reviews
Baker, P. (2019, March 5). The best data visualization tools of 2018. PC Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com.
Dingeldein, T. (2019, October 28). Top 4 free data visualization tools to grow your business [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.capterra.com.
Marr, B. (2017, July 20). Seven best data visualization tools in 2017. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com.
Suda, B., & Hampton-Smith, S. (2019, February 12). 38 best tools for data visualization. Creative Bloq. Retrieved from https://www.creativebloq.com.
Software Options Most Often Used by Libraries
Tool | Skill Level | Max Size | Data Stored | Interactive | Free version? |
Excel | |||||
Spreadsheet software that provides calculations, graphing tools, pivot tables & charts, and a macro programming option.
Best used for conditional formatting and building great charts to add meaning to basic tables, pivot charts, PowerPoint-friendly. Limitations include size of dataset, conversion problems with scientific data. |
No coding | 2 GB | Locally | Limited | Discounts often available for university faculty, students and staff. |
Tableau | |||||
Ability to connect to multiple data sources, combine disparate data without writing code and create interactive visualizations and dashboards on the fly.
Best used for fast actionable insights, statistical analysis, interactive maps, and sharing dashboards. Can be cost prohibitive, requires SQL knowledge if wanting to connect to a database and has no concept of versioning. |
Mostly no coding, but minimal SQL may be required. | Does not have any enforced row or column limits for the amount of data that can be imported. | Locally or Cloud | Yes | Yes, but when publishing reports or dashboards, data is made public. |
Tool | Skill Level | Max Size | Data Stored | Interactive | Free version? |
Google Data Studio | |||||
A dashboard and reporting tool that is very user-friendly with drag and drop features, and is easy to connect to other Google data sources (ie. Google Analytics and Google Sheets).
Best used for interactions with visualizations including filtering through content with dimension and date range selectors, and sharing and setting permissions for viewing reports and dashboards. Limitations include being available only in beta, will only connect to a limited number of data sources, limited types of visualizations, and doesn’t allow you to bring together more than one data source at a time. |
No coding | Most charts now allow up to 20 dimensions and 20 metrics. Time series support up to 20 metrics. Tables support 10 dimensions and up to 20 metrics. | Cloud | Yes | Yes, with a Google account or Google Cloud Platform customers. |
Microsoft Power BI | |||||
A suite of business analytics tools for analyzing data and sharing insights. Allows for simple uploading of data from many sources, including .xls, .csv, and .json. Can create custom reports and dashboards, with over 20 built-in visuals and an active community for custom visualizations.
Best used for combining data from multiple data sources, custom and interactive visualizations, and the ability to access data and reports from anywhere. The free version only allows public sharing, and reports and dashboards can only source data from a single dataset. |
No coding | Please refer to: link | Locally or cloud | Yes | Yes, but when publishing reports or dashboards, data is made public. |
Tool | Skill Level | Max Size | Data Stored | Interactive | Free version? |
D3.js | |||||
A Javascript library for producing interactive data visualizations in web browsers. It uses scalable vector graphics (SVG), HTML5 and CSS standards.
With minimal overhead, D3 is extremely fast, capable of handling large data sets and dynamic behaviour for interaction and animation. D3.js can be rather cumbersome for small amounts of data. In addition, it cannot easily conceal original data nor generate pre-determined visualizations for you. |
Javascript required, SVG, HTML and CSS optional | Rendering is based on number of SVG objects used. Please refer to link for some more details. Pre-rendering on the server side is recommended. | Locally or cloud | Yes | Yes |
Python | |||||
Python is a high-level programming language that is free to use and is designed to be easy to read and implement. A few Python libraries that are designed in particular for data visualizations include matplotlab and ggplot.
Python is widely used in the whole data science workflow (including related technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, etc.) and is becoming a very popular language. |
Python coding skills are required. | N/A | Locally or cloud | Yes | Yes |
Tool | Skill Level | Max Size | Data Stored | Interactive | Free version? |
Plot.ly | |||||
A charting library for creating interactive graphs and charts containing some 20 chart types, including 3D charts, statistical graphs, and SVG maps, built on top of open source software.
Best used for when you need to build highly interactive graphs, has a large number of available visualizations, and includes geo data and maps. More of a demand on internal system resources than other products. Some previous knowledge of Python or Matlab would be an asset. |
Python and Matlab experience would be an asset. | Too much visualized data can cause browsers to freeze or fail to load. | Locally or cloud | Yes | Yes but there is a maximum limit of 100 image exports and chart saves per day. |
Google Charts | |||||
Google Charts is another way to present interactive data visualizations on your websites using simple Javascript and pre-defined charts/objects provided by Google.
The graphs are customizable and rendered using HTML5/SVG allowing cross browser compatibility. It is considered easy to learn and is completely free with a Google account. Some downsides include limited customization, minimal statistical processing, and Google having your data. |
No coding (except if you want to customize using Javascript) | Based on server and webpage loading on client side. | Cloud | Yes | Yes (with Google account) |