Data Visualization in Environmental Public Health: From Data to Insight
Common Visualization Platforms
TOOLS AND PLATFORMS FOR VISUALIZATION
Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used spreadsheet applications and remains a foundational tool for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data. While it is generally not the main option for enterprise dashboards or advanced analysis, it includes features such as PivotTables, Power Query, Power Pivot, and basic mapping capabilities that support more sophisticated analysis than many users realize. Common uses: • Quick summaries and charts • Exploratory analysis • Tables and one-time reports • Small to moderately sized datasets Microsoft Power BI Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence platform that creates interactive dashboards and reports and connects directly to multiple data sources. Power BI dashboards can refresh automatically from connected data sources, reducing manual reporting and supporting more timely decision-making. Users can monitor key performance indicators, explore trends, and filter information to better understand program performance. It integrates well with many Microsoft products and database systems and is a strong choice for internal reporting. Common uses: • Internal dashboards • Program performance monitoring • Executive reporting Tableau Tableau is a data visualization platform that allows users to explore and present data through interactive visualizations. It lets users compare multiple measures, identify patterns, and communicate analytical findings. It is particularly useful when users need to explore data interactively, identify patterns, and answer new analytical questions rather than simply monitor predefined metrics.
The previous section explored how different visualization types support different communication goals. Once you select the most appropriate visualization, the next step is choosing the platform to create, share, and maintain it. Visualization platforms continue to evolve as technology advances. New products emerge, established platforms gain new capabilities, and licensing models change over time. While specific software will continue to change, the principles for selecting visualization platforms remain remarkably consistent. The goal is not to identify a single “best” tool, but to understand how different platforms fit your organization’s needs, resources, existing technology, and intended use. The sections that follow provide an overview of several commonly used platforms and the types of visualization tasks they best support. Think Beyond a Single Tool Rather than searching for one application that does everything, consider how different tools can work together to support analysis, mapping, reporting, and communication. One platform might prepare and organize data, another might build dashboards, another might create interactive maps, and another might develop communication materials. Selecting tools that work well together can simplify workflows, reduce duplicate effort, and let each platform do what it does best. Many visualization platforms now include AI features that can recommend chart types, summarize trends, generate dashboards, or answer questions about data. These capabilities can improve efficiency, but users should carefully review AI- generated visualizations and interpretations to ensure they accurately represent the underlying data and support appropriate conclusions.
Best Practice Build a visualization toolkit rather than relying on a single platform. A collection of compatible tools can provide greater flexibility than expecting one application to meet every need.
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