1. How Mobile Impacts Real-Time
Decision Making & Visualization
Jesse Beaumont
ShinobiControls

2. Why Make Decisions?
They are a way to drive a course of action
towards achieving our goals

3. Quality of Decisions
Outcomes are the measure; not the
decisions themselves

4. For Example…

5. Data informs decisions
Stack the odds!

6. Real-Time Decisions
Real-time decision making requires real-
time data access

7. What is Mobile?
Mobile Not So Much

8. Mobile Revolution
• Portable
• Connected
• Instant Access?
• Personalized?
• Touch Enabled?

9. Mobile Has Changed The World
Images reproduced with permission from :: Suwaif:: and David Boyle

10. Evolution of Mobile
• Lower barrier to entry
• Lower “fear factor”
• End user experience feels safe
• Everyone’s a digital explorer now!

11. Mobile Expectations
Users now expect much more:
• Constant availability
• Immediate response to touch
• Intuitive behavior

12. How Does Mobile Help?
• Portable
• Connected
• Instant Access?
• Personalized?
• Touch Enabled?

13. John Arbuthnot – The Table

14. 0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
1629 1639 1649 1659 1669 1679 1689 1699 1709
Christenings in London by Year
Male
Female
John Arbuthnot – The Chart
Start of
English
Civil War
Plague
Smallpox
?

15. The Original Copy & Paste?
Year Male Female
1671 6449 6061
1672 6443 6120
1673 6073 5822
1674 6113 5738
1675 6058 5717
1676 6552 5847
1677 6423 6203
1678 6568 6033
1679 6247 6041
1680 6548 6299
1681 6822 6533
1682 6909 6744
1683 7577 7158
1684 7575 7127
1685 7484 7246
1686 7575 7119
1687 7737 7214
1688 7487 7101
1689 7604 7267
1690 7909 7302
1691 7662 7392
Year Male Female
1692 7602 7316
1693 7676 7483
1694 6985 6647
1695 7263 6713
1696 7632 7229
1697 8062 7767
1698 8426 7626
1699 7911 7452
1700 7578 7061
1701 8102 7514
1702 8031 7656
1703 7765 7683
1704 6113 5738
1705 8366 7779
1706 7952 7417
1707 8239 7623
1708 8239 7623
1709 7840 7380
1710 7640 7288

16. Why Data Visualization?
Data visualization is designed to:
• Make data easily digestible and reach
conclusions quickly
• Provide context for raw data
Sounds ideal for real-time decision making!

17. Data Visualization Spectrum
Presentation
(low skills
requirement)
Exploration
(high skills requirement)

18. Mobile Opportunity
User comfort with mobile means a shift
on the data visualization spectrum is
possible

19. Data Visualization For Real-Time
• Need to digest data quickly to make
decisions quickly
• Poor Visualizations lead to:
– Poor decisions; or
– Slow decisions

20. Information Overload
• Form factor is a factor
• Smaller screens:
– Require more focused information
– Shorter user journeys
• Larger screens are better for exploration

21. Example

22. Not. Enough. Pixels.
• Minimize chrome
– Embed interaction in context
– Remember discoverability
• Semantic zoom / drill down
• Be focused – don’t try to do too much
on each screen

23. Examples

24. Who Let the Designers Out?
• Can help to:
– Provide natural feel
– Meet expectation
– Aid discoverability
• Beware: can detract from the content

25. Examples
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26. What Chart?!?
Pick the right chart type for your data!

27. Oh Pie Oh Pie?
• Pies are ok for:
– Showing parts of a whole
– Indicating one dominant category
• Very hard to compare slice sizes or
show approximate values

28. Examples
Sales By Country
USA
UK
Canada
Australia
Other
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
USA UK Canada Australia Other
Sales By CountrySales By Country
USA
UK
Canada
Australia
Other

29. Choosing the Wrong Colors
• Consider accessibility & mediums (e.g.
color blindness, printing, etc.)
• Increase saturation to stand out
• Consider avoiding biased colors
• Colors are a key tool for getting the
message across

30. Examples
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Website Load Distribution
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Website Load Distribution

31. Conclusions
Mobile offers a huge opportunity for
improving our decision making
Making it happen requires care and skill!

32. ShinobiControls
Our UI controls make some of this
stuff easier…

33. Thanks For Listening!
www.shinobicontrols.com
@ShinobiControls
jbeaumont@shinobicontrols.com
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