In the visual representation of data, different tools are used; however, these tools have to meet the requirements of the users. Organizations use different tools depending on the funds available and technicality of the data that will be visually represented. It has led to the creation of different software that is used to represent the data. Some of the sites used are such as Infogram, Piktochart, and Easel.ly. It is important to understand that the sites are designed and function differently since they look at the user needs. In light of this, it will be imperative to look at the three sites in regards to their functionality and visual data representation.
Pikotchart
To begin with, Pikotchart is easy to use and provides unlimited freedom in building and editing infographics. One of the aspects of the site that stands out is that it has functional innovation and design flexibility (Aigner, Bertone & Miksch, 2007). Therefore, the user can access ready to use graphics, charts and maps. In addition, it has a high-resolution download. The icons and images can easily be added to the template used in the creation of the data. However, it has its demerits such as lack of change of the background color. The restriction makes it difficult for one to experiment with colors, which are an integral aspect of infographics (Donalek et al. 2014). On the other hand, it offers unlimited creation, access to all images and icon, and intuitive editor, which makes it stand out considering that it was the free version of the account.
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Infogram
Infogram has been designed majorly for the marketers, media companies, and strategic business leaders among others. The site offers custom development, which allows the user to manipulate their own data for visual presentation. One can publish content, import data, code export and access more than 35 chart types. However, some functionalities require one to have a premium account to access such as premium themes, custom theme, team functionality, and different map types. The free account type restricts the user to access two map types, import data, and publish content and 35 chart types. Therefore, the user is limited in terms of data manipulation when using the free version.
Easel.ly
Easel.ly is a simple, intuitive site was developed for executives, educators, business and students in the communication and sharing of ideas and concepts (Kiem et al. 2008). One can create different types of infographics, add objects, and change the background and background color. In addition, it has a text menu, which allows the user to insert texts in the data. The free version of the account allowed for access to 60 images and 10 fonts that could be used in the text menu. In addition, the user navigates the site with ease since the dashboard is user-friendly.
In choosing the site that was to be used in the representation of data from Pew Research Center, Easel.ly was chosen. The reason for choosing the use of Easel.ly was the ease of use of the site. Also, one could add objects and change the background color to fit that, which was on the data. Besides, Pikotchart and Infogram restricted one for the free version of the account (Aigner, Bertone & Miksch, 2007). In light of this, Easel.ly had a competitive advantage over the two sites and proved to provide better experience in terms of data visualization as compared to the two sites.
References
Aigner, W., Bertone, A., & Miksch, S. (2007, November). Tutorial: Introduction to visual analytics. In Symposium of the Austrian HCI and Usability Engineering Group (pp. 453-456). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Donalek, C., Djorgovski, S. G., Cioc, A., Wang, A., Zhang, J., Lawler, E., ... & Davidoff, S. (2014, October). Immersive and collaborative data visualization using virtual reality platforms. In Big Data (Big Data), 2014 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 609-614). IEEE.
Keim, D. A., Mansmann, F., Schneidewind, J., Thomas, J., & Ziegler, H. (2008). Visual analytics: Scope and challenges. In Visual data mining (pp. 76-90). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
