Visualization fulfills two purposes in a data workflow: explanation and exploration. While business people might think of a visualization as the end result, data scientists also use visualization as a way of looking for questions to ask and discovering new features of a dataset.

If becoming a data-driven organization is about fostering a better feel for data among all employees, visualization plays a vital role in delivering data manipulation abilities to those without direct programming or statistical skills.

Throughout a year dominated by business’ constant demand for data scientists, I’ve repeatedly heard from data scientists about what they want most: people who know how to create visualizations.