Datadoodle

Home » Stephen Few » Page 3

Stephen Few

A long look at Stephen Few’s “Now You See It”

by

Stephen Few gave a snappy name to his new book, Now You See It, and a cover that signals a gem — all black with a slice of sunset that highlights the “see.”

Inside, many charts are so beautiful — at least to a visual analysis fan — that they rival the waterfalls and trees of old Sierra Club coffee table books. It’s on paper so thick — and even smoother than Few’s first book, Show Me the Numbers — that you might feel like you’re flipping postcards.

While Show Me the Numbers was about how to present visualized data, he explains, Now You See It: Simple Visualization Techniques
for Quantitative Analysis is about understanding them, which apparently includes how to make them.… Read the rest “A long look at Stephen Few’s “Now You See It””

Time for traditional BI vendors to “pass the baton”

by

The shouts from the back of the BI room seem to be getting louder. In various ways, they’re saying let Big BI die.

Former TDWI education director Dave Wells, visual analytics critic Stephen Few, and Tableau Software CEO Christian Chabot are back there. Others, too.

Last spring, Wells proposed a new, people-centric definition of business intelligence. (See my Q&A with him for TDWI.). On November 18, he published “The Changing Face of Business Intelligence.” He predicted that the industry will soon “experience change that will have broad, deep and lasting impact.”

In early January, Tableau CEO Christian Chabot talked about the failure of BI platforms to deliver the BI promise.… Read the rest “Time for traditional BI vendors to “pass the baton””

Some of us like to name things in BI

by

If you haven’t already, ask around: Exactly what is “business intelligence”? Some say it’s all about business decision making, and others seem to think it’s all about tools.

We struggle with definitions, but usually not in public. Perhaps that’s why the recent uproar on the weblog of eminent visualization critic Stephen Few felt like a refreshing breeze.

It all began with Few’s damning review of a product whose promoters tripped and gave it the now-sexy “visualization” label. Oops.

Usually, Few’s readers sit back and enjoy the show. He’s one of the few Bi writers with the courage to call out a stinker.… Read the rest “Some of us like to name things in BI”