Introduction
Data visualization has become one of the key means of understanding the multifaceted nature of modern human society. Thanks to a vast array of relevant software, coupled with widespread online access, there are more tools and techniques than ever before to obtain, organize, analyze and display data about the world around us: in social trends, science, economics, politics, business, and more. Furthermore, the internet itself is really a massive data repository, and generates an immense amount of data every second.
At a more granular level, data visualization has particular relevance for businesses looking to become more competitive, optimize their revenue, break into markets, and increase employee happiness. Data visualization isn’t going anywhere—if anything, it’s only growing in prominence.
With that, here are six of the biggest and most important data visualization trends of 2025, and beyond.
1. Real-time visualization for business insights and growth
A fantastic first example of this would be a weather report, but the uses of real-time data visualizations extend to many other fields. Many industries—for example, shipping, logistics, and sales—require live updates as not merely a nice-to-have, but rather essential component of their operational model.
Plecto’s key products—Real-time and Dynamic Dashboards—are powerful examples of real-time data visualization platforms used across industries: from real estate and security, to home service and insurance. These dashboards allow teams and managers to immediately access data for streamlined decision-making.
2. Data storytelling for audience understanding
One of the biggest challenges faced at present is the decline in trust of institutional media, an issue that has contributed in large part to political turmoil across the globe. With that in mind, it’s more important than ever that both policymakers and the public have access to reliable data sources and accurate means of interpreting them.
Data storytelling is an attempt to bridge the gap between the public and the media, giving the public access to a rich array of information through a combination of text, data, and visuals to explain an issue or enhance a story. The best examples of data storytelling use honesty and transparency to communicate information, empowering their intended audience rather than confusing them.
Thankfully, efforts to communicate data insights in a story-based format are succeeding—due to the immense amount of data in circulation, and the public appetite for immersive, data-based experiences. In fact, data storytelling is predicted to become the most widely-used means of consuming data analytics in 2025.
3. AI-driven visualization becoming commonplace
Because there’s an immense amount of data present in the contemporary internet ecosystem, with more and more generated every day, it can be nigh-impossible to locate the data that’s useful and relevant to you. That’s where AI-driven data visualizations come in.
AI can sort through the vast amount of data contained in huge datasets, catching details and patterns not visible at first glance to the human eye. AI can then create an intuitive, optimized visualization of the data based on the type of data present.
Similarly, AI can also generate visualizations based on individual needs or preferences. For example, from the same dataset, different teams or departments can obtain different data visualizations best suited to the requirements of their jobs. While Plecto doesn’t offer AI-generated visualizations–yet!–you can still use its native AI assistant to easily build dashboards for your teams.
4. Interactive visualizations creating new ways to explore datasets
Interactive visualizations are fast becoming one of the most exciting means to display data, as they allow the user to explore and engage with data at a granular level. These types of visualization, which includes animated, video, and AR/VR visualizations, have become increasingly sophisticated over the past decade. Uniquely poised to grab the public’s attention, interactive visualizations are the best way for people to retain information, especially when considering the public’s increasingly short attention spans.
AR/VR visualizations deserve a special mention here. Alternate/virtual reality visualizations, where data is presented in not just two-, but three-dimensional space, can allow for deeper and more extensive understandings of data, where relationships between data points can be uncovered in ways not possible with traditional, 2D visualizations.
5. Data democratization allowing non-expert data access
Where once datasets and visualizations were the sole provenance of data scientists and other experts, the trend of data democratization means that data access and visualizations can be created by everybody. It’s becoming increasingly common that individuals can create powerful data visualizations on their own without need for professional expertise. Why is this?
The answer is simple: coding skills are no longer required for many, if not most, data-based platforms. Plecto is one of these platforms where coding skills aren’t necessary for individuals to create engaging dashboards that can be used to benefit the whole team. In this same vein, Plecto allows data to be accessible, transparent, and democratic—creating a culture where individual initiative generates group success.
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6. Mobile-first design as a guiding principle
Last but certainly not least, mobile-first design will continue to not only remain, but grow, as a core component of contemporary data visualization trends. As professionals increasingly rely upon smartphones to engage in work-related tasks, design for an exclusively phone-based experience will remain an essential component of the modern data visualization toolkit.
Optimal formats for mobile-based design include straightforward, uncomplicated layouts that communicate immediate, simple insights. This allows data to be seen accurately on mobile devices, and also ensures faster loading speeds (as phones have significantly less processing power than computers).
The Plecto App for both iOS and Android is Plecto’s own powerful example of a contemporary mobile-first design. It simplified your in-office Plecto dashboards even further, providing immediate insights and updates for when both team members and managers are on the go. You can have instant access to all notifications and alerts from your Plecto account on your mobile device any time, anywhere.
Conclusion
Because it’s a fundamental means of understanding the complexity of modern society and our information ecosystem, data visualization becomes more dynamic and potent with every passing year.
Thanks to the sheer amount of data we encounter daily, and its ever-increasing availability and ease of use, data visualizations have immense potential to both describe and influence our behaviors. This is why it’s important to understand, engage with, and create data visualizations in a responsible manner.
Plecto is one of the tools that can help you take advantage of this data visualization revolution. Regardless of your industry and whatever your needs, Plecto allows you to create exciting and informative data visualizations to power your team—through increased competitiveness, streamlined operations, and getting better results overall. By empowering your team with transparent and democratic access to data, you’ll be able to hit your KPI goals and get the numbers you want, and more.
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