Stephen Few : “The Information Cannot Speak for Itself”

"Though critical to the success of information technology, nontechnical factors often go unnoticed. Industry voices frequently alert us to the more common nontechnical pitfalls: inadequate executive sponsorship, failed management of user expectations, and unrealistic project scope. But there's one more thing and it has little to do with technology and nothing to do with project management. It's fundamental to the successful use of information. I'm talking about data presentation.

Business intelligence is a hot topic today and rightfully so. Through BI and its cousins and aliases decision support, data warehousing, and information management we pay great attention to data acquisition, integration, cleansing, enrichment, access, analysis, and reporting. We pay comparatively little attention to the design practices needed to present data effectively and efficiently. The cost to business is insidious, for it is rarely recognized." writes Stephen Few for Intelligent Enterprise.