Turning students into data storytellers – why data visualization and storytelling are must-learn skills
Much like Artificial Intelligence today, business analytics – also known as “Big Data” – took the business world by storm just over a decade ago.
Schulich became one of the first business schools in the world to offer a degree in business analytics back in 2012 and has been a global leader in analytics education and research ever since.
The one-year Master’s program was designed to develop business leaders who could not only interpret and mine valuable insights from vast amounts of data – but just as importantly – could communicate those findings in clear and digestible terms to help the organization’s senior management team make better strategic decisions.
And one of the best tools for doing that is data visualization – a tool that students in our Master of Business Analytics program, our Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence program, and our Digital Transformation MBA specialization all learn how to use.
In this month’s column, David Elsner, Adjunct Professor of Data Analytics and Associate Director of Schulich’s Master of Business Analytics program, explains why data visualization is one of the must-have skills for up-and-coming business leaders.
I invite you to learn more about how Schulich’s Visual Analytics and Modelling course is giving the business leaders of tomorrow valuable skills for unlocking business insights in an increasingly tech-driven world.
Best,
Detlev Zwick, PhD
Dean, Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Digital Marketing Strategy
Schulich School of Business
Turning students into data storytellers – why data visualization and storytelling are must-learn skills
Businesses have dashboards, spreadsheets, and other business intelligence (BI) tools. The problem is that while dashboards and spreadsheets are great at telling you what happened, they’re not as good at telling you why it happened. While there are several tools that can present data in tables and charts, they lack the context and narrative that can more effectively and efficiently communicate both information and key insights. This is where storytelling is used. Data storytelling is a method of communicating information fit for a specific audience and offers a compelling narrative to share an insight.
According to LinkedIn Learning research, new graduates – defined as people six months out of college or less – disproportionately learn data visualization. While this speaks to an immediate need new graduates face, mastering this skill will give new graduates a competitive advantage in the workforce.
Data visualization is becoming an absolute must-learn skill. The visual analytics skillset underpins the current and accelerating future demand around storytelling and visualization that almost all organizations need: financial services, public sector, technology, among others. All businesses are powered by data: learning how to develop and communicate insights is crucial for the next generation of business leaders. Stated simply – companies are hiring those who can extract insights from data.
When students can create meaningful, memorable, and insightful visualizations, it increases their visibility and contribution in an organization. No matter the role they play or the title they have, being able to provide key information contributes to making better business decisions.
To help ensure that our students possess these must-have skills, students in the Master of Business Analytics (MBAN), Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence (MMAI), and Digital Transformation MBA specialization at Schulich take the MBAN 5140 course – Visual Analytics and Modelling. In this course, students are introduced to the fundamental theories of visual communication design applied in data visualization and visual analytics. They learn how to act as a data-driven visual storytellers for effective presentation of trends, patterns, and insights. And they do this while learning to analyze, design and develop visualizations, dashboards, and stories using Tableau, the market-leading choice for modern business intelligence.
Students in the MBAN and MMAI programs then leverage and apply those visualization and storytelling skills to real data on their consulting projects, the capstone of the two programs. Over the course of two terms (eight months), students work in teams as analytics and artificial intelligence consultants to provide an opportunity for hands-on, experiential, problem-driven research and application with leading and emerging industry partners. The teams uncover insights and create cutting-edge solutions using advanced analytics and artificial intelligence methods and visualization tools. At the conclusion of the projects, teams are tasked to deliver to their clients a business intelligence dashboard that provides real-time analysis of business health, discovers valuable insights, and enables data-driven decision making. This, along with a final presentation of their work, provides the client with a compelling and engaging business story.
Another component of the programs is the Schulich Deloitte Cognitive Analytics and Visualization Lab, which is housed in Schulich’s Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study & Research Building. The lab is a centre of collaboration, innovation and research, created to foster advances in the interpretation of big data and artificial intelligence. Launched as a collaboration between the Schulich School of Business, York University and Deloitte, the Lab highlights the joint commitment to building tomorrow’s talent in the field of analytics.
The future of data storytelling is full of possibilities. With continuing advancements in machine learning, artificial intelligence, interactive visualization, virtual and immersive reality, data visualization tools will become even more powerful and effective at communicating complex information to both technical and non-technical audiences. As the amount of data being produced continues to grow, data storytelling will become an even more important skill for understanding, interpreting, and actioning this data.
David Elsner, MBA
Adjunct Professor and Associate Director of the MBAN program
Schulich School of Business
