A recent article on Computerworld.com, “15 tips on how to get more from Business Intelligence data,” brings up a great perspective when looking at Business Intelligence initiatives. While the popular topics of big data and self-service BI may resemble the shiny new mountain bike in the window, what sort of polishing can you do to the Schwinn in the back of your garage? To often BI reporting and initiatives are implemented in a way that puts the focus on the wrong aspects. Poor usability and over-complex visualizations plague BI reports across all industries. As a result, the user is unsatisfied, current adoption falters and future BI endeavors become a challenge to get approved. Through the changes in business needs and technology advances, BI will continue to be looked at as a program rather than a project. To assist the continual cycle of bringing in new products to meet new business challenges, these are some opportunities to explore:
- Report scope defined using only necessary metrics
- Chart Simplification or perspective revision
- Clearer presentation of data
- Successful trend identification
- Improvements in user adoption through the above points, all realized through user experience testing
By implementing these points and enhancing the user adoption all parties involved will trust that the next round of BI will be fully realized and reach user expectations.
Do you have a general example? Comment below!
