4 ms·

The Next Best Alternative to using Pretty Graph would be using Excel, for most people. How much better is Pretty Graph? Better enough to convince people to "pay

by skm 16y ago

The Next Best Alternative to using Pretty Graph would be using Excel, for most people. How much better is Pretty Graph? Better enough to convince people to "pay" the extra cost (of using something new, via a web interface, rather than something they're familiar with running quickly on their computer, probably in the same place as their data sits)? I'd suggest thinking about how Prezi came up with an offering that is sufficiently much better than Powerpoint to persuade some people to make the switch (or at least give it a try). What about animated graphs, a la Hans Rosling (see TED talks).

revorad 16y ago
Of course, Excel is the default. However, I'm aiming to solve use cases which are either really hard or not possible to do in Excel or can't be done very well in Excel: Making multiple panel graphs, boxplots, plots with error bars, heatmaps etc. Very useful for quickly summarising large amounts of data. In research, a lot of people spend a lot of time adjusting figure margins and title sizes etc. I want to save them time by giving them something that just works. Applying the same graph theme or formatting to a batch of data files. I'm trying to bring the power of R scripting to the masses who do not have any interest in learning programming. A lot of people, such as PR and marketing firms, specifically don't want to use Excel to make charts. They use nicer looking alternatives (mostly Flash based solutions). I am making a simple web-version for them. Those are some examples, there are more.
- adw 16y ago
  Our experience (at Timetric) is that selling visualization as a direct benefit is a real challenge. The people who know what a boxplot is are comfortable with Origin or R or whatever: everything else either doesn't care, or doesn't know they should care, or doesn't have the budget to care. What'll be critical for you is communicating a value proposition which gets past that. How does using PrettyGraph make you money? The Verifiable deadpool post is an eye-opener, too, as to the dynamics of this market: http://stuartroseman.com/post/619953720/out-with-the-old-business-in-with-the-new http://stuartroseman.com/post/619953720/out-with-the-old-bus....
  - revorad 16y ago
    Thanks Andrew. In my limited experience in research, a lot of the most brilliant people were not interested in looking at anything to do with code (such as R). Others who didn't mind would rather spend their time doing their core research than programming, but they had no choice. I am trying to build something which can save such people time. Outside research, I have been contacted by a few different business people, who said they would love to use something like my product. There are some alternatives like Tableau Public out there (which is admittedly more than just a graph maker) but costs a lot. I did read the Verifiable post but the key point there (as the name suggests) is that data quality killed them. They were trying to be a databank. Pretty Graph is not. It's just a website, where you put in your data and get graphs out. Anyway, I'm sure I could learn more from your experience at Timetric. Are you going to the HN meetup this week? I'd love to have a chat.
    - adw 16y ago
      In that case you're in a head-on battle with the Google Visualization API and a couple of other players - iCharts (http://www.icharts.net/ http://www.icharts.net/), Wondergraphs etc. There's definitely something in this space, though.
      - revorad 16y ago
        Google visualization API is not for end users, but I suppose there could be services built on top of that (although I haven't seen any yet). Thanks for pointing to iCharts and Wondergraphs. I hadn't seen them before.
        adw 16y ago
        Google Spreadsheets (and the stuff coming down the pike like Google Fusion Tables) is, though. Really, you're competing with Excel (plus custom styles/plugins) and with Google Docs, I reckon.
- sdfx 16y ago
  Only few of your examples show off these features. I can replicate the rainfall and sales graphs in Excel in less time than it takes me to log in to your service. The heat map on your blog on the other hand looks great - why not replace the boring graphs with this one?
  - revorad 16y ago
    Yes you are absolutely right. This is where I get to use my "I'm a poor overworked single founder" trump card :-P Jokes apart, I agree I have a ton of work to do to make the messaging on my site clear. I just put it out today to get some kicks in my butt.

by skm 16y ago

revorad 16y ago

Of course, Excel is the default. However, I'm aiming to solve use cases which are either really hard or not possible to do in Excel or can't be done very well in Excel: Making multiple panel graphs, boxplots, plots with error bars, heatmaps etc. Very useful for quickly summarising large amounts of data. In research, a lot of people spend a lot of time adjusting figure margins and title sizes etc. I want to save them time by giving them something that just works. Applying the same graph theme or formatting to a batch of data files. I'm trying to bring the power of R scripting to the masses who do not have any interest in learning programming. A lot of people, such as PR and marketing firms, specifically don't want to use Excel to make charts. They use nicer looking alternatives (mostly Flash based solutions). I am making a simple web-version for them. Those are some examples, there are more.

adw 16y ago
Our experience (at Timetric) is that selling visualization as a direct benefit is a real challenge. The people who know what a boxplot is are comfortable with Origin or R or whatever: everything else either doesn't care, or doesn't know they should care, or doesn't have the budget to care. What'll be critical for you is communicating a value proposition which gets past that. How does using PrettyGraph make you money? The Verifiable deadpool post is an eye-opener, too, as to the dynamics of this market: http://stuartroseman.com/post/619953720/out-with-the-old-business-in-with-the-new http://stuartroseman.com/post/619953720/out-with-the-old-bus....
- revorad 16y ago
  Thanks Andrew. In my limited experience in research, a lot of the most brilliant people were not interested in looking at anything to do with code (such as R). Others who didn't mind would rather spend their time doing their core research than programming, but they had no choice. I am trying to build something which can save such people time. Outside research, I have been contacted by a few different business people, who said they would love to use something like my product. There are some alternatives like Tableau Public out there (which is admittedly more than just a graph maker) but costs a lot. I did read the Verifiable post but the key point there (as the name suggests) is that data quality killed them. They were trying to be a databank. Pretty Graph is not. It's just a website, where you put in your data and get graphs out. Anyway, I'm sure I could learn more from your experience at Timetric. Are you going to the HN meetup this week? I'd love to have a chat.
  - adw 16y ago
    In that case you're in a head-on battle with the Google Visualization API and a couple of other players - iCharts (http://www.icharts.net/ http://www.icharts.net/), Wondergraphs etc. There's definitely something in this space, though.
    - revorad 16y ago
      Google visualization API is not for end users, but I suppose there could be services built on top of that (although I haven't seen any yet). Thanks for pointing to iCharts and Wondergraphs. I hadn't seen them before.
      - adw 16y ago
        Google Spreadsheets (and the stuff coming down the pike like Google Fusion Tables) is, though. Really, you're competing with Excel (plus custom styles/plugins) and with Google Docs, I reckon.
sdfx 16y ago
Only few of your examples show off these features. I can replicate the rainfall and sales graphs in Excel in less time than it takes me to log in to your service. The heat map on your blog on the other hand looks great - why not replace the boring graphs with this one?
- revorad 16y ago
  Yes you are absolutely right. This is where I get to use my "I'm a poor overworked single founder" trump card :-P Jokes apart, I agree I have a ton of work to do to make the messaging on my site clear. I just put it out today to get some kicks in my butt.