CS 235: User Interface Design December 8 Class Meeting Department of Computer Science San Jose State University Fall 2014 Instructor: Ron Mak www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak
Dec 24, 2015
CS 235: User Interface DesignDecember 8 Class Meeting
Department of Computer ScienceSan Jose State University
Fall 2014Instructor: Ron Mak
www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
2
How to Display a Data Value
Consider a single simple display:
We can add more information:
We need to pay attention to this value!
Show the reason to pay attention: the target.
YTD Expenses $487,321
YTD Expenses $487,321
Actual Target
YTD Expenses $487,321 $450,000
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
3
How to Display a Data Value, cont’d
Show more information: the variance.
Actual Target Variance
YTD Expenses $487,321 $450,000 +$37,321
Actual Target Variance %
YTD Expenses $487,321 $450,000 +8%
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
4
Table vs. Graph
Tables are good for looking up information:
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
5
Table vs. Graph, cont’d
Graphs are good for revealing the shape of the data:
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
6
Table Format
Beware the fancy table format that obscures information!
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
7
Table Format, cont’d
A simpler format can be easier to read:
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
8
Fancy Gauges and Meters
Beware of fancy gauges and meters provided by dashboard creation tools.
Examples of poor quality gaugesfrom Microsoft Visual Studio that are hard to read.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
9
Fancy Gauges and Meters, cont’d
More fancy dashboard gauges to avoid.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
10
Pie Charts vs. Bar Graphs
Bar graphs are generally better then pie chartsat representing part-to-whole.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
11
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval Scales
Nominal
Items don’t relate to each other. No particular order. Don’t represent quantitative values. Example: Sales, Marketing, Engineering, HR, etc.
Ordinal
Have an intrinsic order. Don’t represent quantitative values. Example: poor, below average, average, excellent
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
12
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval Scales, cont’d
Interval
Have an intrinsic order. Represent quantitative values. Subdivide a range of values
into sequential subranges of values. Each subrange the same size. Example: 0-99, 100-199, 200-299, 300-399 Example: January, February, March
(subranges of time)
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
13
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval Scales, cont’d
Use line graphs only with interval scales.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
14
Time Series: Bar vs. Line Graph
Line graphs are better than bar graphsat showing the shape of time series data.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
15
Bubble Plots
Show how items relate to one another in terms of common variables that fall into categories.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
16
Geographic Maps
Don’t use geographic maps unnecessarily:
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
17
Geographic Maps, cont’d
A geographic map is useful if location is an important part of data being tracked.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
18
Stacked Bar Graphs
A stacked bar graph is not much of an improvement over a pie chart.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
19
Stacked Bar Graphs, cont’d
A stacked bar graph is useful only if the whole is more important to see than the parts.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
20
Stacked Bar Graphs, cont’d
These bar graphs are better at showing the proportions of the four sales channels.
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
21
Multiple Area Graphs
What is the problem here?
Occlusion
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
22
Stacked Area Graphs
Misleading:
How well is the West region doing?
East
Central
West
South
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
23
Stacked Area Graphs, cont’d
An area of a single region is more revealing:
West
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
24
Stacked Area Graphs, cont’d
Line graphs can be even better:
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
25
Radar Graphs vs. Bar Graphs
Radar graphs can be more difficult to readand to compare values than a bar graph:
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
26
Funnel Charts
Funnel charts are often absurd:
Use a bar graph instead!
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
27
Bullet Graphs
A bullet graph shows three items at a glance:
a primary measure a target value qualitative ranges of performance (poor, good, etc.)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
primary measure
target value
range 1 range 2 range 3 range 4
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
28
Bullet Graphs are Space Efficient
Computer Science Dept.Fall 2014: December 8
CS 235: User Interface Design© R. Mak
29
Multiple Bullet Graphs in a Series
Information Dashboard Design, 2nd ed.by Stephen FewAnalytics Press, 2013