This week and last, we are and were required to generate reports, graphs, and other visual displays of our analysis. My plan

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This week and last, we are and were required to generate reports, graphs, and other visual displays of our analysis. My plan for putting together this part of my project was originally to use both Microsoft Excel and RStudio. MS Excel was going to be the main software or application used to conduct the analysis, while RStudio was going to be used for very specific visualizations for the company to see. However, as I was conducting the different portions of my analyses, I realized that MS Excel was much more capable than I had originally given it credit for. The majority of my studies throughout this degree plan utilized Excel, but there were a lot of capabilities that I hadn't yet explored. This is possibly due to the fact that it was assumed we already were familiar with the different functions in Excel, since they were more advanced courses focused on different types of analysis. 

Once I realized that MS Excel could provide such interactive and graphical features, I decided that it would be my primary means of communicating the data in both analyses and visual representations. What I decided to begin with, were interactive pivot tables using the data I found online for Walmart's historical sales. Then I linked different charts and data to the pivot tables. Once they represented the information I wanted to see, I created a dashboard where all the charts and graphs were present on a single page. From there, I added interactive buttons that were linked to all the items on the dashboard and changed each chart with a push of a button. The intention was to be able to view how the data changed over the different sales periods. This would ultimately allow the company to understand what may be happening when the most products are sold, and which departments are selling the most items, or generating the most income.

This portion of the project is extremely important because the company may be able to look at data and determine what information is a priority. However, seeing the information in a chart or graph that can be easily adjusted, is much more effective when relaying the data to the team as a whole.