Creative problem solving using Visual Analytics in Product Development

Visual analytics is a new interdisciplinary science aimed at drawing inference and conclusions from data. In contrast to standard machine learning or statistics, visual analytics emphasizes information visualization, interactivity, and analytic reasoning. [http://smlv.cc.gatech.edu/2010/03/17/what-is-visual-analytics/]. It is an outgrowth of the field’s information visualization and scientific visualization, which focuses on analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_analytics]

If you really want to go into the depths of VA then you can attend a few web lectures from Georgia Tech here

A few years back digg.com had these great visualizations – stack, swarm and big spy; though they seem to be out of service now. (see Where Have Digg Labs Gone?)

 

A related disciple is text analytics. The term text analytics describes a set of linguistic, statistical, and machine learning techniques that model and structure the information content of textual sources for business intelligence, exploratory data analysis, research, or investigation. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_analytics]

A tag or word cloud is related to text analytics. We all have seen these tag clouds over the past couple of years. Tag clouds are an informative image that communicates much in a single glance. Word clouds are easy to read, analyze and compare, serve a variety of useful purposes including visual analysis of qualitative data. For example using FDA Medical Devices CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 and TagCrowd I created this visualization (clearly showing that the major emphasis of this regulation is on manufacturers.)

Coming to the PLM domain, if we can process product data in such a method then we can arrive at a number of interesting observation very easily. For example to show which product has how many change requests? Or which product uses the least parts from a standard library. It can be easily done and if there is an enormous amount of data in an organization such visualizations can offer great information to executives very intuitively.

Another great tool I recently saw was from TouchGraph. See this image which displays a person’s network connections from Facebook.

This sort of visualization when brought into an enterprise can easily put in the picture about a multitude of different things, like for example; a change in a standard part is going to affect how many products down the line, etc. I believe Visual analytics will lead to creative problem solving and faster solutions to problems will drive higher product profitability.

Data Visualization/Infographics in PLM – Will it help make better decisions?

As PLM implementations and usage have matured over time, from being a simple repository of CAD data to a single source of truth, the data locked in these systems have also increased exponentially. This data usually exhibits the key characteristics of good data – being well controlled, accurate, organized, relevant, reliable, and valid. This treasure trove can be harnessed to yield knowledge (which is a series of facts) and intelligence (the ability to think and reason and using and processing the knowledge) and to do that it needs to be properly understood. However till now in most cases such data have been presented only in the form of tabular search results with very little emphasis on mechanisms of illustrating the data in a form which enables a mental picture of what is being revealed.

“The point is that the data [is] good but looking at it and trying to analyze it without an appropriate visual representation will not be helpful in drawing [any types of] conclusions or noticing any patterns. “ [http://veronicatsvetkov.com/2011/04/12/ted-talk-eric-brlow-data-visualization-tableau-public-software/]

Infographics Example 1

I believe Infographics can help here. “Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information”. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_graphics]

Infographics Example 2

“The adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the idea that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. It also aptly characterizes one of the main goals of visualization, namely making it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_picture_is_worth_a_thousand_words]

Infographics Example 3

Identifying solutions to problems becomes easier if complex data can be easily refined. See ecologist Eric Berlow illustrating the tips and tricks for breaking down big issues, he distills an overwhelming infographic on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan to a few elementary points.

Most of the Inforgraphics I have seen till date seems to be one off creations of artists – Can an automated, scalable, efficient technology deliver infographics that is quickly refreshed with current data? As a matter of fact can we do multidimensional analysis of volumes of product data to get information about the business in a more intuitive way?