Info Viz by Liz

Elizabeth  Murnane

Information Visualization

� What  is  information  visualization? � What  are  visualizations  good  for? � Design  guidelines  &  techniques � HCI              Visualization              User  Goals � Responsibilities,  considerations,  alternate  solutions

Today’s Plan

� What  is  information  visualization? � What  are  visualizations  good  for? � Design  guidelines  &  techniques � HCI              Visualization              User  Goals � Responsibilities,  considerations,  alternate  solutions

Today’s Plan

� What  is  information  visualization? � What  are  visualizations  good  for? � Design  guidelines  &  techniques � HCI              Visualization              User  Goals � Responsibilities,  considerations,  alternate  solutions

Today’s Plan

� What  is  information  visualization? � What  are  visualizations  good  for? � Design  guidelines  &  techniques � HCI              Visualization              User  Goals � Responsibilities,  considerations,  alternate  solutions

Today’s Plan

� What  is  information  visualization? � What  are  visualizations  good  for? � Design  guidelines  &  techniques � HCI              Visualization              User  Goals � Responsibilities,  considerations,  alternate  solutions

Today’s Plan

� What  is  information  visualization? � What  are  visualizations  good  for? � Design  guidelines  &  techniques � HCI              Visualization              User  Goals � Responsibilities,  considerations,  alternate  solutions

� Have  fun! ◦ Playing  with,  brainstorming  about,  and  evaluating  visualizations

Today’s Plan

� Visualization:  “The  use  of  computer-­‐‑supported,  interactive,  visual  representations  of  data  to  amplify  cognition”  (Card  et  al.,  1998)

� Graphical  depiction  of  understandable  information ◦ Transformation  of  data  to  information

� Mental  models � Creates  an  “artificial  memory  that  best  supports  our  natural  means  of  perception”  (Bertin)

Key Concepts

� Reason  about,  communicate,  document,  and  preserve  knowledge  (Tufte)

� Quickly  understand  and  assimilate  information � Gain  and  share  insights ◦ Discovery  and  decision-­‐‑making ◦ Explanation  and  dissemination

� Purpose  is  not  the  visualizations  themselves

Why do we use visualizations?

� Analyzing  information ◦ Discover  paZerns  and  explore  trends ◦ Determine  underlying  factors  and  notice  relationships ◦ Reason,  plan,  problem-­‐‑solve

� Communicating  information ◦ Present,  explain,  illustrate ◦ Point  out  key  aspects  &  minimize  less  relevant  details ◦ Education

Viz Types: Viewing vs. Creating

An interactive meta-viz of Viz

Ralph  Lengler  &  Martin  J.  Eppler,  Towards  A  Periodic  Table  of  Visualization  Methods  for  Management,  2007.

Interactive  version  at:  www.visual-­‐‑literacy.org

� Handle  the  expanding  volume  and  diversity  of  data � Summarize,  organize,  and  incorporate  multiple  layers  of  information  into  single  illustration

� An  aesthetic  and  appealing  format  makes  comprehension  process  more  enjoyable

Power of Visualization

Some classic examples

Napoleon’s March – Minard,1861

�  Illustrates  multiple  facets  of  the  data  (i.e.,  geography,  time,  temperature,  army  size,  direction  of  movement)

�   Also  serves  as  a  record  of  the  data

Napoleon’s March – Minard,1861

Cholera Epidemic

� Norman:  “The  power  of  the  unaided  mind  is  highly  overrated”

� Visualizations  aid  thinking ◦  Increase  human  perceptual  processing  and  aZention ◦ Expand  our  working  memory ◦ Reduce  the  search  for  information ◦ Enhance  our  ability  to  recognize  paZerns ◦ Help  us  notice  irregularities  and  anomalies

Amplifying Human Cognition

� Multiply  66  x  43  in  your  head

Multiplication

� Multiply  66  x  43  in  your  head � Multiply  66  x  43  on  paper

Multiplication

� Multiply  66  x  43  in  your  head � Multiply  66  x  43  on  paper � People  perform  5  times  faster  with  the  visual  aid

Multiplication

� Norman:  “The  power  of  the  unaided  mind  is  highly  overrated”

� Visualizations  aid  thinking ◦  Increase  human  perceptual  processing  and  aZention ◦ Expand  our  working  memory ◦ Reduce  the  search  for  information ◦ Enhance  our  ability  to  recognize  paZerns ◦ Help  us  notice  irregularities  and  anomalies

Amplifying Human Cognition

What’s interesting here?

What’s interesting here?

Revealing Correlation

Revealing Outliers

v HCI+Viz:  Orient  visualizations  around  users  and  tasks,  not  visualizations  themselves

v Schneiderman  /  Carr

� Overview � Zoom �  Filter � Details-­‐‑on-­‐‑demand � Relate � History �  Extract

Fulfilling User Tasks

v  Metaphors v  Tufte’s  Rules v  Gestalt  theories  of  form  and  configuration v  CRAP:  Contrast,  Repetition,  Alignment,  Proximity �  Utilize  multi-­‐‑functioning  graphical  elements ◦  intuitive  cues  that  convey  information ◦  meaning  through  shape,  size,  location,  color,  orientation,  motion

�  Use  small  multiples ◦  repetition,  similarity,  invite  comparison

�  Show  process  and  causality �  Separate  and  layer ◦  stratify,  order,  relate

�  Use  color  effectively ◦  highlight,  distinguish,  show  selection

�  Avoid  extraneous  “junk”  components  that  add  cluZer  and  confusion ◦  information  overload,  disruptive  with  no  purpose,  “above  all,  do  no  harm”

Some Principles for Viz Design

Infographic Advertising from Honda

�  Informative  /  Aesthetic � Dynamic  /  Static �  Interactivity � Appropriateness  given  data,  domain,  application � Alternative  sensory  inputs � Social  visualization  &  transparency,  ambiguity,  behavior

Considerations and Choices

Baby Name Voyager

Facebook Friend Wheel

�  Schneiderman:  "ʺStatistics  alone  are  dangerous  and  they  hide  a  lot” ◦  Viz  can  help  reveal  problems  otherwise  hard  to  detect

� Heer:  Important  we  also  uncover,  assess,  and  verify  a    visualization’s  credibility ◦  Provide  interactivity  and  feedback

�  Tufte:  “Graphical  integrity” �  Lie  Factor  &  exaggeration � Careful  of  size,  area,  volume,  perspective,  baseline,  context � Distortion  ever  useful?

Truth in Visualization

Misleading Graphics

Stock  Market  Crash?!

Show full scale

Show context

� Values  and  goals � Good,  bad,  interesting,  effective,  informative,  overly  complicated,  visually  appealing?

� Appropriate  graphical  representation  for  the  data? � Who  are  the  users? � Accessibility � Methods  of  evaluation � Testing  designs  with  people

Evaluating Visualizations

Treemap

US Presidential Speeches Tag Cloud

isbarackobamathepresident.com

Oakland Crimespotting

hZp://oakland.crimespoZing.org/

�  hZp://visual.ly/ ◦  Info  graphics  &  data  viz  centered  community ◦  Search  and  explore  visualizations  for  information  and  inspiration,  set  up  a  portfolio  of  your  own  work  to  share,  and  follow  and  connect  with  other  designers ◦  Offers  blog  with  posts  about  trends,  tools,  tips,  opportunities,  and  stories

�  hZp://www.visualizing.org/ ◦  View  a  gallery  of  visualizations  or  upload  and  showcase  your  own ◦  Enter  challenges  to  create  visualizations  from  a  given  dataset.  New  challenges  open  up  all  the  time:  hZp://www.visualizing.org/contests/visualize-­‐‑us-­‐‑election

�  hZp://www.google.com/publicdata/directory ◦  Google'ʹs  visualization  engine  that  offers  an  online  tool  to  interactively  explore  and  visualize  data.   ◦  Use  public  datasets  from  around  the  world  or  upload  your  own  data

�  hZp://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ �  hZp://www.coolinfographics.com/ �  hZp://infosthetics.com/

Additional Resources