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Xan Gregg, JMP Developer, winner of Business Intelligence Network’s 2006 Data Visualization Competition.

JMP Developer Wins 2006 Data Visualization Competition

Business Intelligence Network’s 2006 competition names JMP principal systems developer, Xan Gregg, the comprehensive winner.

b-eye Winner Known for its ability to present complex data in visually interesting and easy-to-understand ways, JMP statistical discovery software from SAS has been the desktop data analysis tool of choice for scientists, engineers and quality-control professionals since 1989.

This year, one of JMP’s principal systems developers, Xan Gregg, earned top honors for his entry into Business Intelligence Network’s Data Visualization Competition.

Organized and judged by data visualization expert and author Stephen Few, the 2006 Data Visualization Competition allowed contestants to submit visual representations of data to solve five specified business problems. “Data visualization extends our ability to make sense of and communicate business information,” explained Few. “The winners show us what data visualization can achieve when it’s done right.”

From the 68 entries received, JMP’s Gregg was selected as the comprehensive winner, as well as the winner of two of the business scenarios.

Said Gregg, “They [b•eye] provided the raw data in Excel format, which I imported into JMP. From there, I used JMP’s data manipulation and graphical exploration abilities to look for the important features of the data and experiment with various visualizations.”

Gregg took first place for one of the business scenarios, in which contestants designed a visualization that could be used by bank customers to track their checking account activities during a single month.

Gregg also tied for first place for the freestyle scenario in which contestants were able to submit any data visualization that displayed quantitative business data in a manner that supports people in their efforts to understand the data in meaningful ways. For this scenario, Gregg used water reservoir data. The challenge was to design a visual presentation for a town's water authority to use on its Web page to show residents the current reservoir status and conservation stage, including comparisons to previous years of interest (drought years).

“The important thing is that it shows the status by month,” added Gregg. “From a conservation standpoint, you can really see how a 60 percent reservoir level in June means something very different than the same level in November.”

On some entries, Gregg submitted the graphs just as they were produced in JMP. In other cases, he used additional tools to fine-tune the layout of the graphs.

Gregg noted that the experience of creating these business visualizations has provided firsthand knowledge that is being used to improve the data visualization features of JMP, including, for instance, better legends.

Gregg’s reservoir data visualization and checking account scenario presentations will be featured in upcoming issues of the data visualization edition of the Business Intelligence Newsletter as well as in the “Articles” section of Stephen Few’s expert channel on the Business Intelligence Network web site: www.BeyeNETWORK.com.