Data Visualisation
Supercharge your business problem solving through better data insights, analytics, and visualisation.
- DurationApprox 12 weeks
4 hrs per week
Transform business intelligence into game-changing data insights with Tableau
Are you struggling to tell meaningful stories with your data? Effective data visualisation allows you to build a narrative with data that resonates with your audience and turns your analytics into actions that drive growth, engagement, and profits.
You’ll be guided through the process of presenting your data more effectively as you learn how to:
- Identify components of an effective data visualisation
- Recognise design considerations when creating charts and visualising complex relationships
- Identify key business metrics to prepare strategies
- Create and visualise predictive models and forecasts
- Articulate best practice for working with data, and highlight ethical considerations.
Explore the theories behind effective data visualisation
From individual elements through to selecting the right metrics to display, you’ll discover the principles behind impactful data visualisation design.
This theory-led section of the ExpertTrack will take you through key concepts in data visualisation before moving on to practical work and exercises.
Turn business intelligence into data stories using Tableau
After you’ve explored core data principles, you’ll move onto the practicalities of turning data analytics into usable dashboards that will revolutionise how your business builds and reviews strategies.
You’ll use market-leading software, Tableau, to make your data more accessible and effective as a decision-making tool.
Once you have grasped the key elements of dashboards and how to evaluate them for accessibility, you’ll learn useful strategies for deploying dashboards across your organisation.
Expand your career options with in-demand data analytics skills
Already valued at $138.9 billion in 2018, the global data analytics market is expected to reach $229.4 billion by 2025, offering career opportunities across many industries and specialties.
Being able to help businesses interpret and act upon their data is a highly in-demand skill – in the LinkedIn 2020 Skills Survey, Business Analysis made the biggest jump to number six in the list, while analytical reasoning was number three.
With such high demand and projected growth, upskilling to build a strong understanding of data analytics and visualisation can open up a range of lucrative and rewarding career options around the world.
Content for this ExpertTrack has been adapted from the Data Analytics for Business with Tableau Training Microcredential - if you want to find out more, take a look at this Microcredential which offers smaller cohorts with tutor interactions and academic credit.
Industry statistics
- Median base salary£45,000
- UK job openings/month 1,724
Key skills you will learn
- Data visualisation
- Communicating data
- Dashboard design
- Descriptive statistics
- Data analytics
- Data analysis
- Communication
- Presentation skills
- Forecasting and modelling
- Statistics
- Tableau
Learning outcomes
By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to...
- Identify components of an effective visualisation.
- Recognise the design considerations when creating charts and visualising complex relationships.
- Identify key business metrics to prepare strategies to deploy dashboards in an organisation.
- Create and visualise predictive models and forecasts.
- Articulate best practice for working with data, and highlight ethical considerations.
Experience required
This ExpertTrack will develop your skills in visualising data to tell meaningful stories to drive business success across all sectors.
No prior experience is required to join this ExpertTrack. Some experience working with data, statistics, and using spreadsheets would be beneficial but is not required.
During the ExpertTrack we’ll be using Tableau Public and Excel. If you don’t have Excel, you might find this online version useful.
We recommend you use a computer to access the courses in this ExpertTrack.
Getting started
This ExpertTrack will support professionals that require data visualisation skills to successfully meet the demands of their role, or to progress into new opportunities.
This may include:
- business professionals looking to progress in their current role
- career starters wanting to develop their data visualisation capabilities to increase their chances of meaningful career progression and promotion
- business or arts graduates who want to enter a professional role by adding quantitative skills, including data visualisation techniques and predictive modeling.
ExpertTrack course overview
Course 1
Data Visualisation: Core Elements and Theories
Learn the fundamentals of data visualisation – from core components to interactive elements.
1 test
4 weeks
4 hours per week
Week 1
Introduction to the course and data visualization
- Introduction
- Data design fundamentals
- Weekly wrap up
Week 2
Designing charts and visualizing complex relationships
- Introduction
- Designing charts
- Visualising complex relationships
- Wrap up
Week 3
Introduction to using Tableau for data visualization
- Introduction
- Getting started with Tableau
- Weekly wrap up
Week 4
Charts and interactive visualizations in Tableau
- Introduction
- Creating charts in Tableau
- Interactive visualisations
- Wrap up
Course 2
Data Visualisation: Communicate Key Metrics Throughout Your Business
Learn the fundamentals of data visualisation and storytelling to boost your career options.
1 test
4 weeks
4 hours per week
Week 1
Introduction to the course and to dashboards
- Introduction to the course
- Dashboards and business metrics
- Wrap up
Week 2
Designing dashboards
- Introduction
- Dashboard design
- Creating dashboards in Tableau
- Wrap up
Week 3
Data communication and accessibility
- Introduction
- Accessible dashboards
- Wrap up
Week 4
Data insights and storytelling
- Introduction
- Communicating insights
- Supporting dashboard adoption
- Wrap up
Course 3
Data Visualisation: Prediction and Ethics in Data Analytics
Learn the techniques that underpin predictive data analytics and understand the ethics behind them.
1 test
4 weeks
4 hours per week
Week 1
Introduction to the course and predictive modelling
- Introduction
- Predictive analytics
- Wrap up
Week 2
Data models
- Introduction
- Modelling and inferential statistics
- Predictive models and forecasting
- Wrap up
Week 3
Data and ethics
- Introduction
- Ethics and analytics
- Wrap up
Week 4
Working as a data analyst
- Introduction
- New ways of working for data analysts
- Next steps
- Wrap up
Prove you're job ready
Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.
- Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
- Complete each course and pass assessments.
- Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
- Create a shareable certificate link for your CV and LinkedIn.
- Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
- Make your career dreams a reality.
Download a PDF
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How ExpertTracks work
Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.
Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.
Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.
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Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.
World-class learning with FutureLearn
FutureLearn is jointly owned by The Open University and The SEEK Group and has been providing online courses for learners around the world over the last eight years.
This ExpertTrack is in collaboration with Tableau
Learn how Tableau, a leading business intelligence tool helps people see and understand their data to drive business success. Throughout the course you will leverage Tableau to communicate the results of data analysis to various stakeholders.
This ExpertTrack is endorsed by Coventry University
This ExpertTrack is endorsed by Coventry University and delivered by FutureLearn as a quality professional development programme.
Meet your instructor
Alastair has over 15 years of experience in data science, across business and academia as a researcher, speaker, mentor, consultant and software engineer.
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ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.
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