ACADEMIA

Second of three papers outlines proper visual presentation of key business data, provides practical guidelines for improving effectiveness of business intelligence deployments. Cognos, the world leader in business intelligence and performance management solutions, today announced the availability of the second in a series of White Papers exploring core principles of effective data visualization. Visual Pattern Recognition: Meaningful Patterns in Quantitative Business Information examines the data patterns and relationships common in most business reports, such as ranking, part-to-whole, deviation, and correlation, and provides practical guidelines for communicating these relationships effectively using points, lines, and bars. Written by a leading authority Commissioned exclusively by Cognos, the paper was written by renowned data visualization expert and educator Stephen Few and published by the Cognos Innovation Center for Performance Management™. The paper follows the January release of Visual Communication: Core Principles for Displaying Quantitative Information, also by Few. Stephen Few is Principal of the consultancy Perceptual Edge and the author of two books: Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten and Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data. The Cognos Innovation Center was established in June 2004 to advance the understanding of proven performance management best-practices and enabling technologies. In June, 2006, it expanded its focus to advance BI competency for the strategic application of business intelligence on an enterprise scale. "Business Intelligence Competency Centers (BICCs) act as an enabler and catalyst for the creation of best-practice cultures," said Michael Dziekan, Cognos Global Program Director, Business Intelligence Competency Centers. "The knowledge and practical guidance provided in these white papers will provide a great start to organizations building an inventory of best practices that drive operational efficiency." More value from business intelligence deployments Business intelligence deployments are most successful when they meet a specific business need. By following the principles in this paper, business intelligence professionals will be better able to design reports that communicate more clearly and effectively, thereby increasing the relevance of the content to the user, and the business value of the entire deployment. Available immediately The Paper is available for immediate download from the Cognos Innovation Center for Performance Management.