How to visualize data with BSC Designer: diagrams and charts (Part1)
Intro
Data visualization is an important feature aimed to help managers monitoring company’s project in BSC concept. That is why not only special icons are presented but also more complex data visualization ways are allowed with BSC Designer software product – diagrams and charts. Program offers wide range of chart’s instruments that might be set by the user according to their needs and convenience.
Diagrams and charts dialog field is located in down right corner of the program’s interface right under the calendar. By default it shows the only one small chart’s type called “Time” Chart. Let’s turn on the other types so it could be shown as well. In order to perform this run BSC Designer and click on “Chart Options” button right under chats dialog field. After a new dialog window appears mark every diagram type. Now click “OK” button to save changes. That is it! Now all the diagram types are turned on and might be selected to be shown. But what all those diagrams mean? Let’s find it out.
Turning all the types of charts on
Time Chart
Time chart is the only diagram presented by default in BSC Designer. Surely it could be seen as visualization for KPIs’ values dynamics as well as categories’ performance value and the whole project performance dynamics in time. The term “time” here means some dates when indicators changed its values (read more in the article “How to manage time points with BSC Designer”). Certainly categories and the whole project had automatically updated as well. That is why “Time” chart is able to visualize any item’s performance dynamics: project’s graph, categories’ graphs and indicators’ graphs.
This chart is a simple but very important instrument. It could help manager to monitor company’s performance, to look for any weaknesses to be fixed and strong sides to become a good example, to prepare business forecasts and sometimes even business plan and strategy.
In order time chart to be shown run BSC Designer program and select “Time” tab of diagrams and charts dialog field. Those simple graph shows time dynamics of any tree element currently selected. For example select one of the indicators, then one of the categories and at last Balanced Scorecard sign which means the whole project’s value. Every element will have its own graph. Measure unit for vertical line is score or percentage of en element while horizontal line shows number of changes had been made to the element. That is how that graph is actually built.
Time chart for the whole project
Optimization Graph
Optimization graph does not show dynamics oppositely to the “Time Chart”. This diagram aims to visualize the optimization direction (read more in the article “How to manage indicators and performance values with BSC Designer”) of KPIs also pointing the current value with its percentage for the indicator. Surely optimization graph does not work with such tree elements as categories and the project – just indicators’ data could be visualized with its help.
Since there are two optimization directions allowed in BSC Designer optimization graph could be of two different kinds: “minimizing” graph (a line from down right corner to top left corner) and “maximizing” graph (a line from top right corner to down left corner). Horizontal line shows indicator’s values starting with minimal number and finishing with maximal number. Vertical line shows an interval from “0” to “1” meaning an interval of “0%” – “100%” performance value of the indicator with percentage as measure unit. It is important that the percentage value showed on the vertical line is calculated automatically be the program and always mean “100%” as the best value for the project’s performance no matter what optimization direction is selected. In order optimization graph to be shown select Optimization tab of diagrams and charts dialog field and then select one of the indicators in project’s tree.
“Minimizing” optimization graph
“Maximizing” optimization graph
