Information Visualization
- by Shekhar Parkhi
Displays that exploit the visual potential of numbers
Suzzallo Library Electricity Consumption for the year 2013
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This shows the Electricity Consumption at the Suzzallo Library of the UW across the four quarters of the year 2013. The first display shows that the consumption is relatively lesser on weekends than on weekdays and how it differes across various quarters. It does not give us an exact value of the electricity consumption, but rather values relative to one another for a matter of comparison.
The seonds display shows that the Autumn quarter has the most consumption, in the form of a pie chart, showing percentages of total annual consumption across the 4 quarters.
The color combinations as well as the text styles are kept consistent with the model which is being emulated. Only one color (blue) is used for the first chart as that chart required relative values to be displayed, which was done effectively using different shades of the color blue. In the model as well, the donot chart was displayed using a singular blue color. The pie chart was shown in 4 different colors (purple, blue, gray, gold) for the 4 different sectors representing the 4 quarters, as shown in the given key/legend. This is exactly how the pie chart is presented in the color model as well. The text inside the 4 sectors of the pie chart as well as that written inside the boxed gold label is written in white, as in the model.
All the other text is written in purple as in the model. It has been indicated that Q4 consumes the maximum electricity by using the same labeling technique as used in the model that was emulated. Moreover, the title is written on a gold ribbon-like strip as in the model inforgraphic.
It is useful and effective to see the trends for quarters of the year as they almost coincide with the four academic quarters at UW, as it works on a quarter-based academic system.
The entire display as a whole is layed out just as the model infographic, with the UW logo, title, subtitle, purple background and distinct columns in white, inside which the actual content is put.
Allen Library Electricity Comsumption for the year 2013
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This shows the Electricity Consumption at the Allen Library of the UW across the four quarters of the year 2013. The first display shows the consumption for every month and how it differes across various quarters, via a vertical bar chart.
The second display shows that the Winter quarter has the most electricity consumption, via a horizontal bar chart.
Along with the main chart above,it is useful to see the data in the form of a horizontal bar chart to understand which quarter consumes the most amount of electricity, in the form of the percentage of total electricity consumed in that year.
The color combinations as well as the text styles are kept consistent with the model which is being emulated. In the first display, the 4 quarters are represented by the four different colors (purple, gold, blue, gray) that are used in the model inforgraphic, so that we can see the electricity consumption trend across the 4 quarters. In the second display too, 4 different colors (purple, blue, gray, gold) were used to represent the 4 different bars representing the 4 quarters, as shown in the given key/legend.
Except for the text in the boxed label which is in white, all other text is in purple as in the model. Moreover, the title is written on a gold ribbon-like strip as in the model inforgraphic.
It is useful and effective to see the trends for quarters of the year as they roughly coincide with the four academic quarters at UW, as it works on a quarter-based academic system.
The entire display as a whole is layed out just as the model infographic, with the UW logo, title, subtitle, purple background and distinct columns in white, inside which the actual content is put.
Critique Feedback
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All three people from whom I took feedback had the same opinion about the first data display: It took them quite a while before they could completely digest the information that they were presented. Even though they finally did understand it and though it provided valuable information, they did complain that it took time to understand the visual. The third person also pointed out that the label "Q2" was missing and that the label used was "Weekday" and even then the Weeknends were considered too.
For the second chart, all three people were confused about what those percentages on the pie chart stood for. All of them agreed that this display was definitely much easier to read as compared to the first one, but more clarity about the percentages would help in making the chart more understandable. The first person also pointed out that having the color key at the side made it a little difficult to see which sector of the pie belonged to which quarter and one had to go back and forth from the pie to the key.
Along with these, my professor also gave her feedback that the two data displays were quite different from one another and it would be great to have two visuals presenting the same data, but in two different styles.
On considering these valuable comments, I significantly revised my visuals, as you can see in the second image by sliding to the left or to the right. I got rid of the first display, which was a bit too complicated. I replaced that by a horizontal bar chart, displaying the same data that the pie chart showed. I also mentioned the lables of the 4 quarters beside their respective data and got rid of the key. Most importantly, I added the label "% of Total kWh consumed in 2013" to both the displays to give the viewers a context of what the display was about. I also highlighted the data in gold color to emphasize that it the maximum value among the four.
Critique Feedback
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All three people had problems comprehending why was the data split into four different parts using four colors. Also, it took time for them to realize that the data is being displayed for every month as opposed to every quarter. Here again, having the color key at the side made it a little difficult to see which color belonged to which quarter and one had to go back and forth from the display to the key.
As far as the seond display goes, the first person did not realize that it used the same key as the first display. The second person was also confused as there were no labels on the vertical axis to the left of the display. The third person pointed out that the horizontal bars were a bit too long. He expected the longest bar to be near to 100% whereas it was only 26%.
The professor again recommended that the the two displays show the same information in a different manner instead of two different types of information.
Taking these into consideration, I changed the first display to a continuous area chart using one single color, as you can see in the second image by sliding to the left or to the right. The changed the second display to a circle chart with the color and size of the circle replresenting the value of the data. In both these displays, I added the labels for the 4 quarters below the horizontal axis itself, instead of having a separate key.