Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? If you did, “exercise more” is probably on your list. Year after year, it’s consistently among the most common resolutions. That’s because we know that moving makes us stronger – and science shows that it makes us smarter, more energetic, and more productive too. (That’s why the guy in the next office just got a standup desk with a treadmill under it – and got the boss to pay for it.)
The same goes for business data: If you can get data moving, it can make your organization better in many important ways. That’s why in 2015, companies are resolving to get their data out of storage silos and onto mobile devices. They’re building mobile apps – complete with embedded data visualizations – to put data in the hands of employees, partners and customers who need it, want it, and can take action on it.
If you and your company made this resolution for 2015, be sure to check out Designing Data Visualizations for Mobile Devices, a webinar presented by Allen Bonde (@abonde), Actuate’s VP of Product Marketing & Innovation. Along with David Rubenstein, Editor in Chief of SD Times (@SDTimes), Bonde walks through the business imperative for mobile data visualizations, the must-have features of mobile apps, and some best practices for success. The webinar is now available for free replay.
Bonde’s best practices are summed up in three yellow text blocks in this slide:
- Embed – Data visualizations belong in your existing apps, so the tools and platforms you choose must work with common standards and leverage APIs for data access, but still be lightweight, easy to customize, and brand-friendly. This includes the ability to white label a data visualization – that is, make it blend seamlessly into a larger app or portal, complete with design preferences such as colors and fonts.
- Automate! – Data visualizations on mobile devices – particularly when you’re talking about wearables such as smartwatches – need to respect the device. Nobody’s going to read a chart of numbers on a 320×320-pixel screen, but they’d gladly receive an alert on that screen saying that a key customer is requesting more information or a product they want has gone on sale. And if that alert can be linked to an action – call the customer, or buy the product – your mobile data visualization becomes a powerful productivity tool.
- Interact + Reuse – Data visualizations on mobile devices are most powerful when they’re interactive – when a tablet user can learn, with simple touch, which product or segment a sparkline, bar or pie slice represents, then drill to the data below. And if all apps (desktop and mobile) leverage the same data and development tools, businesses can boost app performance and drive reuse, which makes developers more productive. But remember: Tools must be powerful and flexible, because not all devices and users are created equal.
Bonde’s presentation also covers mobile development models and makes the case for the native/hybrid model (also described by Actuate’s Daniel Melcher in a two-part blog post). Perhaps the most powerful takeaway from the one-hour webinar is an Enterprise Mobile Checklist that Bonde shared toward the end of the event. Reproduced below, the checklist recaps five crucial elements that designers and developers must consider when creating data visualizations for mobile devices.
If you’re resolved to get your data moving in 2015, it’ worth an hour of your time to view Designing Data Visualizations for Mobile Devices. Put on your headphones, hop on your neighbor’s treadmill while he’s at lunch (the boss won’t mind – and we can all use the cardio), and watch it today.