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The Effect of Aesthetic on the Usability of Data Visualization
Abstract
Aesthetic seems currently under represented in most current data visualization evaluation methodologies. This paper investigates the results of an online survey of 285 participants, measuring both perceived aesthetic as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of retrieval tasks across a set of 11 different data visualization techniques. The data visualizations represent an identical hierarchical dataset, which has been normalized in terms of color, typography and layout balance. This study measured parameters such as speed of completion, accuracy rate, task abandonment and latency of erroneous response. Our findings demonstrate a correlation between latency in task abandonment and erroneous response time in relation to visualization's perceived aesthetic. These results support the need for an increased recognition for aesthetic in the typical evaluation process of data visualization techniques.
... Aesthetic pleasure is an important aspect of visualizations. It has been suggested to affect the usability and effectiveness of a visualization [20,37] and has the potential to communicate [15] and engage viewers 1 Such as the Max Planck Institute of Empirical Aesthetics in Germany or the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics in the USA. [2,68]. ...
... This definition also fits well with how many researchers (e. g., [20,21,35,70]) approached the concept in visualization, and we adopt this definition to describe the construct we want to measure in our scale. We can see similar definitions in other work, e. g., "the pleasure people derive from processing the object for its own sake, as a source of immediate experiential pleasure in itself, and not essentially for its utility in producing something else that is either useful or pleasurable" [28], but see this definition as largely equivalent to the first one, which we adopt. ...
... Cawthon and Vande Moere [19] presented a conceptual model for assessing aesthetics as part of an information visualization's user experience. In another study [20], they asked participants to rate visualizations on a scale from "ugly" to "beautiful" to judge their aesthetics. Many other scales have been used in visualization. ...
We developed and validated a rating scale to assess the
aesthetic pleasure
(or
beauty
) of a visual data representation: the BeauVis scale. With our work we offer researchers and practitioners a simple instrument to compare the visual appearance of different visualizations, unrelated to data or context of use. Our rating scale can, for example, be used to accompany results from controlled experiments or be used as informative data points during in-depth qualitative studies. Given the lack of an aesthetic pleasure scale dedicated to visualizations, researchers have mostly chosen their own terms to study or compare the aesthetic pleasure of visualizations. Yet, many terms are possible and currently no clear guidance on their effectiveness regarding the judgment of aesthetic pleasure exists. To solve this problem, we engaged in a multi-step research process to develop the first validated rating scale specifically for judging the aesthetic pleasure of a visualization (osf.io/fxs76). Our final BeauVis scale consists of five items, “enjoyable,” “likable,” “pleasing,” “nice,” and “appealing.” Beyond this scale itself, we contribute (a) a systematic review of the terms used in past research to capture aesthetics, (b) an investigation with visualization experts who suggested terms to use for judging the aesthetic pleasure of a visualization, and (c) a confirmatory survey in which we used our terms to study the aesthetic pleasure of a set of 3 visualizations.
... Aesthetic pleasure is an important aspect of visualizations. It has been suggested to affect the usability and effectiveness of a visualization [20,37] and has the potential to communicate [15] and engage viewers 1 Such as the Max Planck Institute of Empirical Aesthetics in Germany or the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics in the USA. [2,68]. ...
... This definition also fits well with how many researchers (e. g., [20,21,35,70]) approached the concept in visualization, and we adopt this definition to describe the construct we want to measure in our scale. We can see similar definitions in other work, e. g., "the pleasure people derive from processing the object for its own sake, as a source of immediate experiential pleasure in itself, and not essentially for its utility in producing something else that is either useful or pleasurable" [28], but see this definition as largely equivalent to the first one, which we adopt. ...
... Cawthon and Vande Moere [19] presented a conceptual model for assessing aesthetics as part of an information visualization's user experience. In another study [20], they asked participants to rate visualizations on a scale from "ugly" to "beautiful" to judge their aesthetics. Many other scales have been used in visualization. ...
We developed and validated a rating scale to assess the aesthetic pleasure (or beauty) of a visual data representation: the BeauVis scale. With our work we offer researchers and practitioners a simple instrument to compare the visual appearance of different visualizations, unrelated to data or context of use. Our rating scale can, for example, be used to accompany results from controlled experiments or be used as informative data points during in-depth qualitative studies. Given the lack of an aesthetic pleasure scale dedicated to visualizations, researchers have mostly chosen their own terms to study or compare the aesthetic pleasure of visualizations. Yet, many terms are possible and currently no clear guidance on their effectiveness regarding the judgment of aesthetic pleasure exists. To solve this problem, we engaged in a multi-step research process to develop the first validated rating scale specifically for judging the aesthetic pleasure of a visualization (osf.io/fxs76). Our final BeauVis scale consists of five items, "enjoyable," "likable," "pleasing," "nice," and "appealing." Beyond this scale itself, we contribute (a) a systematic review of the terms used in past research to capture aesthetics, (b) an investigation with visualization experts who suggested terms to use for judging the aesthetic pleasure of a visualization, and (c) a confirmatory survey in which we used our terms to study the aesthetic pleasure of a set of 3 visualizations.
... Lack of crowdsourced studies: In our literature survey, we did not find a crowdsourced empirical evaluation that measures accuracy or time for human-subjects to complete analytical tasks with different tree visualization encodings. Even though we found one crowdsourced study that included tree visualizations [97], the study did not report analytical task driven analysis of accuracy and time measures. Unlike a controlled lab study, crowdsourced studies enable the evaluation of a visualization encoding using a large and diverse group of participants [98]. ...
... It has been demonstrated that enjoyable visualizations lead to higher engagement, and users spend prolonged time with the visualizations [101]. During our survey, we found only a single paper [97] with the core focus on measuring the "enjoy" goals of a visualization. These underrepresented task actions, including "produce","summarize" and "enjoyment", provide opportunities for future tree visualization research. ...
... In empirical studies [43], [48], authors show that adjacency diagrams are better at both structural and topology tasks than the node-link diagrams. Furthermore, an aesthetic evaluation of tree visualization encodings [97] showed that the sunburst chart was considered to be the most aesthetically pleasing tree visualization encoding. The empirical trends of the adjacency diagram coupled with the overall more space-efficient layout than the node-link encoding and explicit hierarchy representation make it a practical choice for tree visualization. ...
In the field of information visualization, the concept of tasks is an essential component of theories and methodologies for how a visualization researcher or a practitioner understands what tasks a user needs to perform and how to approach the creation of a new design. In this paper, we focus on the collection of tasks for tree visualizations, a common visual encoding in many domains ranging from biology to computer science to geography. In spite of their commonality, no prior efforts exist to collect and abstractly define tree visualization tasks. We present a literature review of tree visualization papers and generate a curated dataset of over 200 tasks. To enable effective task abstraction for trees, we also contribute a novel extension of the Multi-Level Task Typology to include more specificity to support tree-specific tasks as well as a systematic procedure to conduct task abstractions for tree visualizations. All tasks in the dataset were abstracted with the novel typology extension and analyzed to gain a better understanding of the state of tree visualizations . These abstracted tasks can benefit visualization researchers and practitioners as they design evaluation studies or compare their analytical tasks with ones previously studied in the literature to make informed decisions about their design. We also reflect on our novel methodology and advocate more broadly for the creation of task-based knowledge repositories for different types of visualizations. The Supplemental Material will be maintained on OSF:https://osf.io/u5ehs/
... This means that their design goals for a visualization thumbnail goals are not much different from those of normal thumbnail images. Therefore, conventional design goals, such as determining an image's attractiveness [3] or visual aesthetics [38], [45], [46], also apply to visualization thumbnail evaluation. ...
... Impact of aesthetically-pleasing, artistic visualization thumbnails: The visual aesthetics of visualization have been discussed from many perspectives, including subjective impressions of visualization and design criteria [38], [46]. In our study, the practitioners stated that they put much effort on producing visually appealing thumbnails (subsection 3.2). ...
As online news increasingly include data journalism, there is a corresponding increase in the incorporation of visualization in article thumbnail images. However, little research exists on the design rationale for visualization thumbnails, such as resizing, cropping, simplifying, and embellishing charts that appear within the body of the associated article. Therefore, in this paper we aim to understand these design choices and determine what makes a visualization thumbnail inviting and interpretable. To this end, we first survey visualization thumbnails collected online and discuss visualization thumbnail practices with data journalists and news graphics designers. Based on the survey and discussion results, we then define a design space for visualization thumbnails and conduct a user study with four types of visualization thumbnails derived from the design space. The study results indicate that different chart components play different roles in attracting reader attention and enhancing reader understandability of the visualization thumbnails. We also find various thumbnail design strategies for effectively combining the charts' components, such as a data summary with highlights and data labels, and a visual legend with text labels and Human Recognizable Objects (HROs), into thumbnails. Ultimately, we distill our findings into design implications that allow effective visualization thumbnail designs for data-rich news articles. Our work can thus be seen as a first step toward providing structured guidance on how to design compelling thumbnails for data stories.
... This means that their design goals for a visualization thumbnail goals are not much different from those of normal thumbnail images. Therefore, conventional design goals, such as determining an image's attractiveness [3] or visual aesthetics [38], [45], [46], also apply to visualization thumbnail evaluation. ...
... Impact of aesthetically-pleasing, artistic visualization thumbnails: The visual aesthetics of visualization have been discussed from many perspectives, including subjective impressions of visualization and design criteria [38], [46]. In our study, the practitioners stated that they put much effort on producing visually appealing thumbnails (subsection 3.2). ...
As online news increasingly include data journalism, there is a corresponding increase in the incorporation of visualization in article thumbnail images. However, little research exists on the design rationale for visualization thumbnails, such as resizing, cropping, simplifying, and embellishing charts that appear within the body of the associated article. Therefore, in this paper we aim to understand these design choices and determine what makes a visualization thumbnail inviting and interpretable. To this end, we first survey visualization thumbnails collected online and discuss visualization thumbnail practices with data journalists and news graphics designers. Based on the survey and discussion results, we then define a design space for visualization thumbnails and conduct a user study with four types of visualization thumbnails derived from the design space. The study results indicate that different chart components play different roles in attracting reader attention and enhancing reader understandability of the visualization thumbnails. We also find various thumbnail design strategies for effectively combining the charts' components, such as a data summary with highlights and data labels, and a visual legend with text labels and Human Recognizable Objects (HROs), into thumbnails. Ultimately, we distill our findings into design implications that allow effective visualization thumbnail designs for data-rich news articles. Our work can thus be seen as a first step toward providing structured guidance on how to design compelling thumbnails for data stories.
... Therefore, design data visualization can assist in the data exploration and knowledge mining of building design. Then, the data can be classified and extracted through comparison and statistical analysis, in order to facilitate subsequent design decisions [3]. ...
... (1) Integrate multi-domain experts (2) Viewed content is based on a non-disposable template (3) Views are generated by computer operations (4) View analysis is dominant instead of an application edition 2. The technology element (abbreviated as T), is summed up into five items: ...
... In many studies, VAS is frequently presented as a remedy for the flaws of the Likert scale and the ranking, as well as the Paired Comparison Technique [41]. The study by Cawthon and Moere [42], related to cartographic visualization, in which respondents used such a scale to evaluate the visualization in terms of esthetics, is an example of that solution. ...
... It is also confirmed by quantitative attempts to describe the diversity of particular maps analyzed in this research. VAS, already employed in studies of cartographic visualizations, e.g., by Cawthon and Moere [42], constitutes the alternative solution. ...
This article presents the results of research on users concerning six thematic maps made with various mapping techniques and related to various aspects of the activities of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. The aim of the survey was to determine how the respondents rank these maps in terms of the four subjective evaluation criteria, which were the graphical attractiveness of maps, the readability of maps, the usefulness and importance of information, and the complexity of information presented on the maps. The greatest discrepancies were noted for the dot map, while the flow map obtained the most consistent evaluations. To check what the respondents were guided by while building the ranking for each criterion, a catalog of factors was created, the importance of which was assessed using the Likert scale. In the case of graphical attractiveness, users attach particular importance to the arrangement of objects visible on the map. The speed of reading the information is particularly important for map readability. In the case of the usefulness and importance of the information, the map topic, important for saving health and life from the user’s point of view, was of the greatest importance, while the amount of information in the legend significantly influenced the evaluation of information complexity.
... It is well established in the field of data visualization that the complexity of information displayed directly affects how easily this information can be retained (Lusk and Kersnick, 1979;Evergreen and Metzner, 2013) and its general appeal (Harrison et al., 2015). Evidence suggests that visualizations that are perceived as more appealing convey the information they display more easily (Kurosu and Kashimura, 1995;Tractinsky, 1997), attract a more diverse audience (Korkmaz, 2009;Harrison et al., 2015), and capture the audience's attention for longer (Cawthon and Moere, 2007). There is supporting evidence that visualizations using real-world objects can convey information more effectively to a diverse audience (Lewis and Sheppard, 2006). ...
... This in turn has the potential to trigger and hold the attention of the readers (Treisman, 1988;Hillstrom and Yantis, 1994). Because they can convey the same information in a simpler manner and attention has been given to increasing their appeal according to design principles, these diagrams hold the potential to improve communication and understanding of stellar astrophysics (Lusk and Kersnick, 1979;Cawthon and Moere, 2007;Evergreen and Metzner, 2013). ...
Understanding the lives and interior structures of stellar objects is a fundamental objective of astrophysics. Research in this domain often relies on the visualization of astrophysical data, for instance, the results of theoretical simulations. However, the diagrams commonly employed to this effect are usually static, complex, and can sometimes be non-intuitive or even counter-intuitive to newcomers in the field. To address some of these issues, this paper introduces TULIPS, a python package that generates novel diagrams and animations of the structure and evolution of stellar objects. TULIPS visualizes the output of one-dimensional physical simulations and is currently optimized for the MESA stellar evolution code. Utilizing the inherent spherical symmetry of such simulations, TULIPS represents the physical properties of stellar objects as the attributes of circles. This enables an intuitive representation of the evolution, energy generation and loss processes, composition, and interior properties of stellar objects, while retaining quantitative information. Users can interact with the output videos and diagrams. The capabilities of TULIPS are showcased by example applications that include a Sun-like star, a massive star, a low-metallicity star, and an accreting white dwarf. Diagrams generated with TULIPS are compared to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and to the Kippenhahn diagram, and their advantages and challenges are discussed. TULIPS is open source and free. Aside from being a research tool, it can be used for preparing teaching and public outreach material.
... Despite the increasing acknowledgement of the importance of visual styles in charts [9,24,33,46,54], little work has attempted to understand and quantify layout qualities through large-scale user studies. Research in graphical design has provided various layout metrics such as alignment and segmentation [49], but they are not readily applicable to charts that are data-driven and yield different visual perception [7,66]. ...
... However, aesthetics were traditionally considered as an add-on feature that was typically implemented at the very end of the design process. Already 13 years ago, Cawthon and Moere [9] argued for increased recognition for visualization aesthetics, by demonstrating the relationships between aesthetics and usability in data visualizations. Since then, many empirical studies have shown that the aesthetics of data visualizations could contribute to various factors such as first impressions [24], memorability [5], emotional engagement [33], and task performances [54]. ...
We contribute a method to automate parameter configurations for chart layouts by learning from human preferences. Existing charting tools usually determine the layout parameters using predefined heuristics, producing sub-optimal layouts. People can repeatedly adjust multiple parameters (e.g., chart size, gap) to achieve visually appealing layouts. However, this trial-and-error process is unsystematic and time-consuming, without a guarantee of improvement. To address this issue, we develop Layout Quality Quantifier (LQ2), a machine learning model that learns to score chart layouts from pairwise crowdsourcing data. Combined with optimization techniques, LQ2 recommends layout parameters that improve the charts' layout quality. We apply LQ2 on bar charts and conduct user studies to evaluate its effectiveness by examining the quality of layouts it produces. Results show that LQ2 can generate more visually appealing layouts than both laypeople and baselines. This work demonstrates the feasibility and usages of quantifying human preferences and aesthetics for chart layouts.
... Examples include colour temperature gradients on maps and charts, colour-coded vector fields in flow visualization, or colour icons displayed by real-time simulation systems." (Healey, 1996) Figure 2: Heat map to show correlations between all continuous variables in a data set where dark red shows a strong negative correlation, dark blue shows a strong positive correlation, and white shows no correlation Cawthon and Vande Moere (2007) investigate the effectiveness of aesthetics by looking at correlations between task abandonment, response time, and perceived aesthetic. Through an online survey they found that a Botanical Viewer, Polar View, and SunBurst were the most visually pleasing visualization techniques with BeamTrees and TreeMaps being the least pleasing. ...
... In terms of efficiency; Botanical Viewer and StepTree had the slowest time; SpaceTree provided the fastest response time followed by Windows Explorer. This study was able to show that displays that focus on beauty can also be effective displays and that displays with lower aesthetic scores have a higher task abandonment (Cawthon & Vande Moere, 2007). Healey (1996) explores the use of color in data representations, however. ...
Note: The purpose of this post-print is to invite suggestions for future research, and extensions of the topic of Big Data Visualization into a research guide / manual by the second author, who has edited this manuscript by adding a section on special case-textual data visualization.
... While chart types and characteristics influence what readers take away from charts, we find that the entire environment and framing in which charts are published are critical to deriving messages from visualizations. This concerns textual elements, as discussed separately in Section (6.2), but also subjective reactions that determine a reader's engagement with a visualization [85,86]. Both in our field notes, as well as in the producer interviews, we can see reflections on the reader's personal experiences, i.e. their emotions, reactions to how a chart is presented visually, and to perceived rhetorical appeals, such as the framing of a topic. ...
Data visualizations are used to communicate messages to diverse audiences. It is unclear whether interpretations of these visualizations match the messages their creators aim to convey. In a mixed-methods study, we investigate how data in the popular science magazine Scientific American are visually communicated and understood. We first analyze visualizations about climate change and pandemics published in the magazine over a fifty-year period. Acting as chart readers, we then interpret visualizations with and without textual elements, identifying takeaway messages and creating field notes. Finally, we compare a sample of our interpreted messages to the intended messages of chart producers, drawing on interviews conducted with magazine staff. These data allow us to explore understanding visualizations through three perspectives: that of the charts, visualization readers, and visualization producers. Building on our findings from a thematic analysis, we present in-depth insights into data visualization sensemaking, particularly regarding the role of messages and textual elements; we propose a message typology, and we consider more broadly how messages can be conceptualized and understood.
... Many of the issues students mentioned with current EHRs are solved usability problems in the consumer technology industry by companies such as Google and Apple, but the solutions are not widely adopted in health care today [12,13]. Similarity, the value of data visualizations is not new [14][15][16], but to our knowledge, this type of clinician-side data visualization is not widely used in medical education. ...
Background:
In medicine, the clinical decision-making process can be described using the dual-process theory consisting of the fast, intuitive "System 1," commonly seen in seasoned physicians, and the slow, deliberative "System 2," associated with medical students. System-1-type diagnostic reasoning is thought to be less cognitively burdensome, thereby reducing physician error. To date, limited literature exists on inducing System-1-type diagnosis in medical students through cognitive heuristics, particularly while using modern electronic health record (EHR) interfaces.
Objective:
In this experimental pilot study, we aimed to (1) attempt to induce System-1-type diagnostic reasoning in inexperienced medical students through the acquisition of cognitive user interface heuristics and (2) understand the impact of clinical patient data visualizations on students' cognitive load and medical education.
Methods:
The participants were third- and fourth-year medical students recruited from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who had completed 1+ clinical rotations. The students were presented 8 patient cases on a novel EHR, featuring a prominent data visualization designed to foster at-a-glance rapid case assessment, and asked to diagnose the patient. Half of the participants were shown 4 of the 8 cases repeatedly, up to 4 times with 30 seconds per case (Group A), and the other half of the participants were shown cases twice with 2 minutes per case (Group B). All participants were then asked to provide full diagnoses of all 8 cases. Finally, the participants were asked to evaluate and elaborate on their experience with the system; content analysis was subsequently performed on these user experience interviews.
Results:
A total of 15 students participated. The participants in Group A scored slightly higher on average than those in Group B, with a mean percentage correct of 76% (95% CI 0.68-0.84) versus 69% (95% CI 0.58-0.80), and spent on average 50% less time per question than Group B diagnosing patients (13.98 seconds vs 19.13 seconds, P=.03, respectively). When comparing the novel EHR design to previously used EHRs, 73% (n=11) of participants rated the new version on par or higher (3+/5). Ease of use and intuitiveness of this new system rated similarly high (mean score 3.73/5 and 4.2/5, respectively). In qualitative thematic analysis of poststudy interviews, most participants (n=11, 73%) spoke to "pattern-recognition" cognitive heuristic strategies consistent with System 1 decision-making.
Conclusions:
These results support the possibility of inducing type-1 diagnostics in learners and the potential for data visualization and user design heuristics to reduce cognitive burden in clinical settings. Clinical data presentation in the diagnostic reasoning process is ripe for innovation, and further research is needed to explore the benefit of using such visualizations in medical education.
... For example, Saket et al. [21] argued that more efforts should be put into understanding people's subjective responses to visualization design. Cawthon et al. [22] and Harrison et al. [23] investigated how data visualization influences aesthetic feelings. Amini et al. [24] and Lan et al. [25] used indicators such as likability and enjoyment to evaluate data stories. ...
As data visualizations have been increasingly applied in mass communication, designers often seek to grasp viewers immediately and motivate them to read more. Such goals, as suggested by previous research, are closely associated with the activation of emotion, namely affective arousal. Given this motivation, this work takes initial steps toward understanding the arousal-related factors in data visualization design. We collected a corpus of 265 data visualizations and conducted a crowdsourcing study with 184 participants during which the participants were asked to rate the affective arousal elicited by data visualization design (all texts were blurred to exclude the influence of semantics) and provide their reasons. Based on the collected data, first, we identified a set of arousal-related design features by analyzing user comments qualitatively. Then, we mapped these features to computable variables and constructed regression models to infer which features are significant contributors to affective arousal quantitatively. Through this exploratory study, we finally identified four design features (e.g., colorfulness, the number of different visual channels) cross-validated as important features correlated with affective arousal.
... An online survey has been conducted by Nick et al. to measure the aesthetics, efficiency and the effectiveness of all different types of data visualization techniques used for the representation of hierarchical datasets [29]. A comparison of all visualization techniques is done according to the completion speed, accuracy, latency of incorrect feedback and function termination. ...
In an advanced and dynamic cyber threat environment, organizations need to yield more proactive methods to handle their cyber defenses. Cyber threat data known as Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) of previous incidents plays an important role by helping security analysts understand recent cyber threats and their mitigations. The mass of CTI is exponentially increasing, most of the content is textual which makes it difficult to analyze. The current CTI visualization tools do not provide effective visualizations. To address this issue, an exploratory data analysis of CTI reports is performed to dig-out and visualize interesting patterns of cyber threats which help security analysts to proactively mitigate vulnerabilities and timely predict cyber threats in their networks.
... educational materials were evaluated in terms of two point views: a) whether they required the use of visual literacy abilities by the students and b) whether they were aesthetically pleasing. the aesthetics of the design was considered to be very important as it can influence the perceived usability of the materials and increase their effectiveness and efficacy (manovich, 2001;lau &Vandemoere, 2007). in particular, when it comes to designing educational digital material, info-aesthetics (manovich, 2001) is connected to the quality of the feelings that can be provoked, such as increase of interest or increase of students' confidence (laurel 1991; mirdehghani & monadjemi, 2009), since it is thought that something that looks nice or beautiful, also works better or more satisfactory (kurosu & kashimura, 1995; tractinskyet al., 2000) or that in some occasions, it is easier or more efficiency to understand elements that are likable due to familiarity and previous experiences (cawthon & Vandemoere, 2007). therefore, the evaluation was based on how the educational materials were visualized in terms of the following five parameters: a) colors (categories of colors, intensity, variation and balance), b) images (harmony, posi-tion, and function), c) unity of aesthetic qualities in all pages of mmB, d) simplicity vs. complexity of visual elements, and e) variation of visual elements (images, colors, maps, videos, font type, size and color). ...
As a way to respond to the contemporary challenges for promoting multiliteracies and multimodality in education, the current study proposes a theoretical framework – the multiliteracies model – in identifying, developing and evaluating multimodal material. The article examines, first theoretically and then empirically, the promotion of muliliteracies in relation to the development of multimodal educational material through the use of Multimedia Builder (MMB). Using the proposed blended pedagogical model the educational materials were evaluated in terms of their adoption of different literacies modes and their potential to develop multiliteracies. Finally, the paper discusses various educational and scientific implications regarding the integration of multimedia software within the teaching and learning practice as well as pre-service teachers’ education and skills’ development in multimodality and multiliteracies.
... Teachers were presented with three prompts on each of these three screens. The first prompt is a task retrieval based on Cawthon and Vande Moere [50]. The task requires identification of the student performance objective from the layout. ...
Science standards across 44 states in the United States are often assumed to be equivalent because they are all based on the National Research Council’s (NRC) Framework for K-12 Science Education. Twenty of those states adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which is based on the NRC Framework, and the 24 other states developed their own NRC Framework-based science standards. In this article, two related studies are described that focused on assessing this homogeneity assumption. In the first study, a comparative document analysis categorized the variety of ways performance expectations are presented. Analysis also focused on relative placement of information related to performance expectations and components of three-dimensional learning. To assess how variations affect teacher noticing, in the second study nearly 300 elementary school teachers viewed, in random order, seemingly similar fourth-grade standards from three states. Comparisons focused on teachers’ noticing of student objectives, elements that stood out, and teachers’ rationales regarding their noticing. Though both studies underscored that all NRC Framework-based science standards do integrate NRC Framework tenets, findings counter the assumption that NRC Framework-based science standards are necessarily equivalent to each other or to NGSS.
... Visualisations can be manipulated by the geometry or type of figure used and the aesthetics of the elements in the figure [29]. Perceived aesthetics have been shown to be correlated with user engagement, where users were more likely to spend longer time studying a figure when the design of the visualisation was more pleasing to the eye [30]. Scatter plots can be used to show the relationship between two continuous variables, lines plots may be used to show continuous variables over time, and boxplots, histograms or raincloud plots can be used to present the distribution of continuous variables [31]. ...
The goal of performance analysis is to capture the multitude of factors that affect sports strategy, and present them in an informative, interpretable, and accessible format. The aim of this study was to outline a performance analysis process in field hockey that captures, analyses and visualises strategy in layers of detail culminating in the creation of an RStudio Shiny application. Computerised notational analysis systems were developed to capture in-game events and ball tracking data of 74 matches from the Women’s Pro League 2019. Game styles were developed using k-means cluster analysis to reduce detailed in-game events into practical profiles to identify the attack types, game actions and tempo of a team’s strategy. Ball movement profiles were developed to identify the predictability (entropy) and direction (progression rates) of ball movements, and consequent distribution of possession in different attacking zones. The Shiny application, an interactive web-platform, links the information from simple game profiles with detailed game variables to understand each teams’ holistic game plan, how they are different, and how to exploit these differences. The process outlined can be applied to any team invasion sport to understand, develop and communicate successful strategies under different match situations.
... Persuasion is one of the main goals of effectiveness, which points to a more important ontological question about why we need data visualization, namely how the work of data visualization has significance and how its impact is measured. Many studies have focused on the user's interaction with the visualization, that is, the measurement of specific elements of the engagement process, such as memorability (Bateman et al., 2010;Borkin et al., 2013;Huang et al., 2009), aesthetics (Cawthon and Moere, 2007), consistency of comprehension (Haroz and Whitney, 2012;Otten et al., 2015), and efficiency of comprehension (Chen et al., 2014;Kelleher and Wagener, 2011;Mason and Azzam, 2019;Zhu, 2007). Based on the definitions provided by previous studies, some measures of effectiveness have been discussed, for example, the common or unique visualization types (Borkin et al., 2013) and the addition or removal of visual embellishments (Bateman et al., 2010). ...
In this article, we analyze the rise of data visualization in social and political contexts. Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, we consider a case in Shenzhen, China, and demonstrate the impact of visualization as intermediation for data on policies and society. We propose an epistemology of visualization as infrastructure. In China, visualization has been developed as a technological system to support information dissemination and collective action in public crises. Three characteristics are proposed to describe China’s data visualization politics during the pandemic, in particular, to summarize the power relationships between visual brokers, policymakers, and public users in data visualization. Further, based on the conceptualization of the links between visualization, infrastructure, and data politics, visualization serves as an important component of information infrastructure, and is an easily overlooked technical process. The creation and use of data may seem like normalized actions, but data visualization in fact supports the perception, participation, proposal, and critique of data politics issues. Via a focus group discussion with members of the Shenzhen public health sector and in-depth interviews with Shenzhen residents, we developed a qualitative effectiveness measurement framework highlighting the potential for the involvement of visualization in politics and activism.
... The first debate on that topic dated back to 1857 and resulted in several advises [14]. The theoretical understanding of the correctness of data visualisation has grown over time with new or revised good practices [7,15,16,17], but very few propose practical and applicable evaluation methods. ...
The rapid influx of low-quality data visualizations is one of the main challenges in today’s commu- nication. Misleading, unreadable, or confusing visualizations spread misinformation. Furthermore, they fail to deliver their message to the viewer. The scale of the problem is big enough that there already exist public fora gathering tens of thousands of users criticizing graphics and charts (reddit.com/r/dataisugly) made with obvious mistakes. Current attempts at data visualization appear mostly as simple and overgeneralized checklists, and often lack systematicity and versatility. The lack of proper tooling for evaluating data visualization quality further heightens the problem.
Therefore, this paper proposes VisQualdex, a systematic set of guidelines for static data visual- ization. The codex categorization is based and inspired by the theory of Grammar of Graphics. It contains dozens of criteria designed to catch various errors and mistakes of different categories and magnitude. Furthermore, it has been peer-reviewed and tested by experts of data visualization, data science, graphics design, information technology and computer science.
To apply theory in the real world and increase the practical impact of VisQualdex, this contribution also introduces a practical tool. The implementation of the guidelines is available in the form of the web server, https://visqual.onrender.com, developed as a single page application in JavaScript using Vue.js and Material Design principles.
... Additionally, aesthetic appearance was a heavily considered factor. Aesthetic, or the perceived beauty of the images, has correlations with task abandonment, indicating that users who find greater beauty in certain visualizations will likely have greater patience in interpreting the images as well (Cawthon, N., Moere, A., 2007). With a greater inclination to interpret the data, even finding creative ways to do so, aesthetic boosts efficiency and effectiveness. ...
Between 2014 to 2015, the city of Flint suffered from critically contaminated water that caused long-term adverse health effects for many of its residents. In 2017, the “Speak to Your Health!” Community Survey assessed various aspects of adult Flint residents’ health. In addition to the health-related assessments, there were also questions about residents’ tap water quality, including during the times of Flint’s water crisis. This project used results from the survey on how water turbidity levels affected the number of days when poor mental and physical health interfered with daily activities. Diagramming software was used to create images representing this relationship in intuitive formats. These data visualizations are intended to boost data literacy among non-researchers, particularly the people and policymakers of Flint. Given that the crisis ensued after Flint’s water source was switched without proper infrastructure in place to ensure appropriate water quality, causing the population to suffer long term health, social, and economic complications, it is hoped that these results will be used to empower the population of Flint to advocate for continued investment in remediation and prevent future similar health crises.
... A visualization created for outreach purposes requires a different focus in the underlying data processing in order to create a result that is not only understandable, but also visually appealing to the general public. Aesthetically-pleasing visualizations are both more educational [3] and are perceived to be more credible than those which are not [16]. ...
Artifact removal is an integral component of cinematic scientific visualization, and is especially challenging with big datasets in which artifacts are difficult to define. In this paper, we describe a method for creating cloud artifact masks which can be used to remove artifacts from satellite imagery using a combination of traditional image processing together with deep learning based on U-Net. Compared to previous methods, our approach does not require multi-channel spectral imagery but performs successfully on single-channel Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). DEMs are a representation of the topography of the Earth and have a variety applications including planetary science, geology, flood modeling, and city planning.
... In fact, online surveys are well suited for research on data visualizations, as a large number of participants is needed to render significant results for the comparison of multiple visualizations with a range of variables. This is for example the reason why Cawthon & Vande Moere (2007) chose for an online survey to investigate the perceived aesthetic of 11 data visualization types. Similarly, in our online survey 10 data visualization types (i.e., route instruction types) were shown. ...
... However, we believe that symmetry is an important aspect to investigate with regard to user engagement. Symmetric objects are often perceived as more aesthetic [9], especially so rotational symmetry [25]. However, striving for symmetry goes against the guidelines by Blake et al. [5], which we introduced in Section 7.1, as symmetry leads to zones that are visually very similar to another. ...
Creating comprehensible visualizations of highly overlapping set-typed data is a challenging task due to its complexity. To facilitate insights into set connectivity and to leverage semantic relations between intersections, we propose a fast two-step layout technique for Euler diagrams that are both well-matched and well-formed. Our method conforms to established form guidelines for Euler diagrams regarding semantics, aesthetics, and readability. First, we establish an initial ordering of the data, which we then use to incrementally create a planar, connected, and monotone dual graph representation. In the next step, the graph is transformed into a circular layout that maintains the semantics and yields simple Euler diagrams with smooth curves. When the data cannot be represented by simple diagrams, our algorithm always falls back to a solution that is not well-formed but still well-matched, whereas previous methods often fail to produce expected results. We show the usefulness of our method for visualizing set-typed data using examples from text analysis and infographics. Furthermore, we discuss the characteristics of our approach and evaluate our method against state-of-the-art methods.
... Appropriate colour choice has the power to make the infographics more appealing [33], to highlight important information and therefore improve understanding [53] as well as clarifying the infographic as a whole [79]. Thus, an appropriate colour palette was chosen to align the graphs in the presentation in terms of colour [16] which suited the professional setting as well as the branding of the company to avoid distraction and benefit the perception of the presentation [72,76]. Colours were chosen for data with the aim of portraying that they are all of equal importance and easily visible on a white background [79] or in the case of augmented reality a bright and well-lit background [4,80]. ...
Presentations are the most successful and popular form of communication in business. However, the formats of presentations in business have not changed much for past few decades. The emergent and disruptive technologies such as Augmented Reality and Animated Infographics have provided potential for enhancing communications in businesses to increase engagement and therefore increasing the effectiveness of such communications. This paper focuses on the impact and effectiveness of using interactive AR in business presentations. The paper presents the design and development of our AR presentation application. Followed by a presentation of an empirical study into the usability and effectiveness of using Augmented Reality and Animated Infographics in business presentation and compares the results against the traditional slideware slides presentation approach. The results of the experiment with 94 participants are presented and analysed. The results demonstrate that the AR approach out performs the traditional methods in terms of usability, audience engagement and effectiveness of communication.
... To facilitate storytelling, one thread of the research focuses on how data can be shown. Relevant topics include the styles and aesthetics of visual representations [17,46], and graphical elements in visualization such as color [7], layout [5,14,61], and embellishment [8, 10-12, 16, 30]. Another thread, on the other hand, looks into how data can be told through narratives. ...
... This lack of guidance can impede effective usage by practitioners, can cause domain experts to question a design's validity [VDBBC * 18], and can impede automated analyses from making relevant suggestions [MCC20]. Developing a technical understanding of effective usage for a novel chart can be a quagmire of disentangling aesthetic and novelty responses [CM07] through often slow or costly user studies [AL20]. ...
Unfamiliar or esoteric visual forms arise in many areas of visualization. While such forms can be intriguing, it can be unclear how to make effective use of them without long periods of practice or costly user studies. In this work we analyze the table cartogram-a graphic which visualizes tabular data by bringing the areas of a grid of quadrilaterals into correspondence with the input data, like a heat map that has been "area-ed" rather than colored. Despite having existed for several years, little is known about its appropriate usage. We mend this gap by using Algebraic Visualization Design to show that they are best suited to relatively small tables with ordinal axes for some comparison and outlier identification tasks. In doing so we demonstrate a discount theory-based analysis that can be used to cheaply determine best practices for unknown visualizations.
... For instance, five dimensions can be displayed and manipulated through the two regular axes as well as hue, shape and size of data points. The impact of visualisations on stakeholder decision-making has been examined in forecasting, communication and planning [140][141][142][143]. Furthermore, visualisation aesthetics have been linked with an individual's engagement, enjoyment and memorability [144][145][146][147]. However, an awareness of inherent biases is also required in the generation of visualisations. ...
Commonly classified as individual, task or environmental, constraints are boundaries which shape the emergence of functional movement solutions. In applied sport, an ongoing challenge is to improve the measurement, analysis and understanding of constraints to key stakeholders. Methodological considerations for furthering these pursuits should be centred around an interdisciplinary approach. This integration of methodology and knowledge from different disciplines also encourages the sharing of encompassing principles, concepts, methods and data to generate new solutions to existing problems. This narrative review discusses how a number of rapidly developing fields are positioned to help guide, support and progress an understanding of sport through constraints. It specifically focuses on examples from the fields of technology, analytics and perceptual science. It discusses how technology is generating large quantities of data which can improve our understanding of how constraints shape the movement solutions of performers in training and competition environments. Analytics can facilitate new insights from numerous and complex data through enhanced non-linear and multivariate analysis techniques. The role of the perceptual sciences is discussed with respect to generating outputs from analytics that are more interpretable for the end-user. Together, these three fields of technology, analytics and perceptual science may enable a more comprehensive understanding of constraints in sports performance.
... Research has suggested that viewers find it easier to interpret visualizations containing animated elements (Robertson et al., 2008). In addition, aesthetics play an important role in engaging the viewer with a particular visualization (Cawthon and Moere, 2007). The technique proposed in this paper builds upon the concepts of motion and aesthetics to effectively visualize correlation while combating the limitations of the previous approaches at the same time. ...
... The benefit of the method: Easy to understand for almost everybody [9]. The disadvantages of the method: Have the same disadvantages just like treemap ...
... This complex effect is varied by the user's preference of metaphor, spatial ability, and the locus of control [62,63]. Beyond that, the visualization technique with the highest visual quality seems to perform relatively high in effectiveness-related measures [10]. ...
Treemaps are a commonly used tool for the visual display and communication of tree-structured, multi-variate data. In order to confidently know when and how treemaps can best be applied, the research community uses usability studies and controlled experiments to "understand the potential and limitations of our tools" (Plaisant, 2004). To support the communities' understanding and usage of treemaps, this survey provides a comprehensive review and detailed overview of 69 user studies related to treemaps. However, due to pitfalls and shortcomings in design, conduct, and reporting of the user studies, there is little that can be reliably derived or accepted as a generalized statement. Fundamental open questions include configuration, compatible tasks, use cases, and perceptional characteristics of treemaps. The reliability of findings and statements is discussed and common pitfalls of treemap user studies are identified.
... Therefore, design data visualization can assist in the data exploration and knowledge mining of building design. Then, the data can be classified and extracted through comparison and statistical analysis, in order to facilitate subsequent design decisions [3]. ...
Visualisations offer a variety of novel ways to depict data to a wider range of users. Moreover, they provide the ability to transform raw data into intuitive visual mechanisms for communication. Despite the developments in visualisation techniques, an area of depiction that has struggled to advance is uncertainty. The visualisation of uncertainty offers an additional dimension for the data by presenting confidence and error rates. Whilst nearly all predictive data sets visualised contain uncertainties, there is still little impulse to actively represent uncertainty. A growing area of interest in the visualisation world is the field of aesthetics; the authors ask the question ‘could aesthetics be applied to address the issues surrounding visualising uncertainty’. This paper reports on the design and delivery of a study to evaluate the effectiveness of aesthetics for the depiction of uncertainty. In particular, the evaluation of how to practically determine how we assess the influence of aesthetic dimensions for the presentation of uncertainty. The paper reports on the strategies employed in this study to assess user’s decision around aesthetic designs, whilst determining what aesthetic combinations elicit the most uncertain visual representation. The findings show that certain aesthetic combinations in a line graph visualisation portrayed a higher level of uncertainty than others and that particular combinations triggered affective responses based on how the visualisation influenced/impacted a participant. In detail, how the textured line characteristics can be displayed aesthetically (combined with either emphasis or scale) to encourage optimal user experiences of uncertainty in a diverse participant group. The paper highlights how a user’s decision on which texture was most uncertain can be overturned when presented with varying levels of emphasis and scale. In summary, this paper contributes to a more in-depth understanding of how to design for and evaluate aesthetic uncertainty visualisations that encourage interaction with the data.
Evaluating scientific visualization has long presented challenges to those working in the field. Recent reviews of evaluation practices found that while reports of evaluations are rising, algorithmic performance outweighs user performance as the dominant metric. This study sought to address this gap by engaging multiple categories of users informally evaluating the efficacy of a scientific visualization. Efficacy was evaluated for understanding, usability, and aesthetic value. Results indicate that aesthetics play a critical, but complex role in enhancing user understanding, particularly for non-expert viewers.Method Our center offers visualization services to scientists analyzing large volumes of complex data. This work motivated our need to evaluate scientific visualization from our users’ many perspectives. Our users need visualization for both: Collaborating with other specialists in their fields; Communicating results to non-specialist sponsors or public We designed a 2-phased study to include both audiences to evaluate a visualization of a research problem. In phase 1, participants evaluated a visualization produced collaboratively with the principal investigator (PI) of the research and our center. In Phase 2, participants evaluated the original visualization produced by the PI with no collaboration with our center. Visualization DescriptionThe U.S. Army is studying fuel atomization as it relates to heavy fuel engines relying on direct injection fuel delivery systems. The engines must significantly advance current fuel conversion efficiencies. The PI for the research created a visualization of the fuel atomization spray. The ERDC DAAC team designed a second visualization of the spray working iteratively with the researcher. Participants were shown an animation of that visualization. Participants were recruited from faculty, staff, and students across multiple disciplines at a university. Over the two phases of the study, 62 engineers, and 54 non-engineers participated. Participants were asked to watch videos of the visualization, answer questions about its content, and evaluate its aesthetic quality.The two-phase study directly compared the original to the enhanced visualization to determine the contribution of aesthetics to a viewer’s understanding of the research for engineers versus non-engineers. ResultsResults indicate that non-engineers viewed the original visualization as having poorer aesthetics and that enhancements to the visualization led to improved perception of aesthetics. These results suggest that improvements to aesthetics of a visualization may have a greater effect on non-engineers than engineers. For engineers, understanding of the research was not significantly improved when viewing the enhanced visualization. However, non-engineer performance matched engineer performance for the enhanced visualization. On the original visualization, non-engineers have a poorer understanding of the research than engineers. On the enhanced visualization, non-engineer performance is higher and closer to engineer performance.Our long-term goal is to develop a more explicit usability process incorporating aesthetics to enhance visualization quality for both researchers and public audiences.
Multiple time series graphs are used prevalently in representing business and research data, but the use of color properties to visualize them to enhance comprehension is limited. This study explored the effect of hue and lightness in representing 4-time series data in relation to response time (RT) and accuracy. Two types of palettes were developed for each experiment: monochrome and multi-hue. The three sets of monochrome palettes created were red, green, and blue, while four equidistant hues in the color wheel were used in the multi-hue palette: red, blue, green, and purple. A total of forty people participated in the two experiments. Participants performed two tasks for both experiments: maximum and discrimination tasks. The monochrome experiment showed the primacy of green in terms of RT and accuracy in the discrimination task. RT and accuracy were significantly affected by lightness in the multi-hue experiment. For both tasks, RT was longer for 20% lightness and lowest at 60% lightness. Accuracy results were also consistent with RT. In the discrimination task, participants made more errors in 20% lightness and the highest accuracy for 60% and 80%.
Visualization is widely employed in the engineering industry to fulfill the increasing demand for robust data exploration and insight enhancement tools. It is valued for its ability to improve the performance and efficiency of various engineering tasks. Narrative visualization is a growing interdisciplinary field with a great potential for mission-critical, pressure-filled, and time-sensitive operations. Because of the novelty of the discipline, there is a lack of research focused on design strategies of story-based data representation in the engineering domain. Based on the existing visualization research, we identified four prominent design qualities: aesthetics, usability, novelty, and complexity; and examined them in the context of interactive story-focused engineering visualization. We concluded that: 1) Terminology needs to be re-evaluated in the new context; 2) All four design dimensions we analyzed are subjective and prone to personal interpretation; 3) All four design qualities can be both positive and negative, depending on the context; 4) Trade-off between design qualities has to be made; 5) There is a lack of completed case studies in the field. We hope this research will be beneficial for bridging the gap between storytellers, visualization designers, and engineers, as well as establishing design strategies for this emerging visualization form.
Understanding the lives and interior structures of stellar objects is a fundamental objective of astrophysics. Research in this domain often relies on the visualization of astrophysical data, for instance the results of theoretical simulations. However, the diagrams commonly employed to this effect are usually static, complex, and can sometimes be non-intuitive or even counter-intuitive to newcomers in the field. To address some of these issues, this paper introduce TULIPS, a python package that generates novel diagrams and animations of the structure and evolution of stellar objects. TULIPS visualizes the output of one-dimensional physical simulations and is currently optimized for the MESA stellar evolution code. Utilizing the inherent spherical symmetry of such simulations, TULIPS represents the physical properties of stellar objects as the attributes of circles. This enables an intuitive representation of the evolution, energy generation and loss processes, composition, and interior properties of stellar objects, while retaining quantitative information. Users can interact with the output videos and diagrams. The capabilities of TULIPS are showcased by example applications that include a Sun-like star, a massive star, a low-metallicity star, and an accreting white dwarf. Diagrams generated with TULIPS are compared to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and to the Kippenhahn diagram, and their advantages and challenges are discussed. TULIPS is open source and free. Aside from being a research tool, it can be used for preparing teaching and public outreach material.
Data stories integrate compelling visual content to communicate data insights in the form of narratives. The narrative structure of a data story serves as the backbone that determines its expressiveness, and it can largely influence how audiences perceive the insights. Freytag's Pyramid is a classic narrative structure that has been widely used in film and literature. While there are continuous recommendations and discussions about applying Freytag's Pyramid to data stories, little systematic and practical guidance is available on how to use Freytag's Pyramid for creating structured data stories. To bridge this gap, we examined how existing practices apply Freytag's Pyramid by analyzing stories extracted from 103 data videos. Based on our findings, we proposed a design space of narrative patterns, data flows, and visual communications to provide practical guidance on achieving narrative intents, organizing data facts, and selecting visual design techniques through story creation. We evaluated the proposed design space through a workshop with 25 participants. Results show that our design space provides a clear framework for rapid storyboarding of data stories with Freytag's Pyramid.
Creating comprehensible visualizations of highly overlapping set-typed data is a challenging task due to its complexity. To facilitate insights into set connectivity and to leverage semantic relations between intersections, we propose a fast two-step layout technique for Euler diagrams that are both well-matched and well-formed. Our method conforms to established form guidelines for Euler diagrams regarding semantics, aesthetics, and readability. First, we establish an initial ordering of the data, which we then use to incrementally create a planar, connected, and monotone dual graph representation. In the next step, the graph is transformed into a circular layout that maintains the semantics and yields simple Euler diagrams with smooth curves. When the data cannot be represented by simple diagrams, our algorithm always falls back to a solution that is not well-formed but still well-matched, whereas previous methods often fail to produce expected results. We show the usefulness of our method for visualizing set-typed data using examples from text analysis and infographics. Furthermore, we discuss the characteristics of our approach and evaluate our method against state-of-the-art methods.
Structure of the codified knowledge matters: it defines knowledge transferability while its absence creates information overload. Knowledge transferability creates organizational value through an increase of intellectual capital, innovative activity, and firm performance. The knowledge‐based view postulates higher transferability of codified knowledge, but the codification approach complies with a set of contradictions. The present empirical study uncovers nonlinear relationships between knowledge structure and knowledge transferability and encourages further studies toward search for optimal knowledge structure.
This paper reports the design and comparison of three visualizations to represent the structure and content within arguments. Arguments are artifacts of reasoning widely used across domains such as education, policy making, and science. An argument is made up of sequences of statements (premises) which can support or contradict each other, individually or in groups through Boolean operators. Understanding the resulting hierarchical structure of arguments while being able to read the arguments' text poses problems related to overview, detail, and navigation. Based on interviews with argument analysts we iteratively designed three techniques, each using combinations of tree visualizations (sunburst, icicle), content display (in‐situ, tooltip) and interactive navigation. Structured discussions with the analysts show benefits of each these techniques; for example, sunburst being good in presenting overview but showing arguments in‐situ is better than pop‐ups. A controlleduser study with 21 participants and three tasks shows complementary evidence suggesting that a sunburst with pop‐up for the content is the best trade‐off solution. Our results can inform visualizations within existing argument visualization tools and increase the visibility of ‘novel‐and‐effective’ visualizations in the argument visualization community. This paper reports the design and comparison of three visualizations to represent the structure and content within arguments.
Unfamiliar or esoteric visual forms arise in many areas of visualization. While such forms can be intriguing, it can be unclear how to make effective use of them without long periods of practice or costly user studies. In this work we analyze the table cartogram—a graphic which visualizes tabular data by bringing the areas of a grid of quadrilaterals into correspondence with the input data, like a heat map that has been “area‐ed” rather than colored. Despite having existed for several years, little is known about its appropriate usage. We mend this gap by using Algebraic Visualization Design to show that they are best suited to relatively small tables with ordinal axes for some comparison and outlier identification tasks. In doing so we demonstrate a discount theory‐based analysis that can be used to cheaply determine best practices for unknown visualizations.
This article explores the landscape of creative endeavors in the new media art and reflects on aesthetics of information visualization. When using computer based information visualization to show data interactively in many dimensions, the user can navigate across big data sets, find patterns, relationships, and structures that would be invisible if presented numerically. The authors also explore ways of combining information visualization techniques with the principles of creative design, enhancing artistic influences on the technical implementations, and raising the level of training in design. Finally, the authors offer suggestions for creating knowledge visualizations with the use of art and graphics to strengthen the readiness of computer scientists to fulfill aesthetic expectations and gain recognition from art world specialists for factual solutions done in visualization projects and new forms of art.
Scientific visualization tools are currently not optimized to create cinematic, production-quality representations of numerical data for the purpose of science communication. In our pipeline Estra, we outline a step-by-step process from a raw simulation into a finished render as a way to teach non-experts in the field of visualization how to achieve production-quality outputs on their own. We demonstrate feasibility of using the visual effects software Houdini for cinematic astrophysical data visualization, informed by machine learning clustering algorithms. To demonstrate the capabilities of this pipeline, we used a post-impact, thermally-equilibrated Moon-forming synestia from Lock et al., (2018). Our approach aims to identify “physically interpretable” clusters, where clusters identified in an appropriate phase space (e.g. here we use a temperature–entropy phase–space) correspond to physically meaningful structures within the simulation data. Clustering results can then be used to highlight these structures by informing the color-mapping process in a simplified Houdini software shading network, where dissimilar phase–space clusters are mapped to different color values for easier visual identification. Cluster information can also be used in 3D position space, via Houdini’s Scene View, to aid in physical cluster finding, simulation prototyping, and data exploration. Our clustering-based renders are compared to those created by the Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) team for the full dome show “Imagine the Moon” as proof of concept. With Estra, scientists have a tool to create their own production-quality, data-driven visualizations.
This chapter discusses aesthetic values in mathematics, science, and computing including aesthetic computing and aesthetic issues related to digital environment. A study of aesthetics has always been related to the arts, philosophy of art, and our judgments about sensory or emotional values of specific art works; they are in the focus of neuroaesthetics. The objectives of aesthetic studies have been changing following the developments in computing technology, shifting the stress on usability and efficiency of projects and visualizations. Challenges and demands in aesthetics and art are then discussed, starting from an essential question (What is an artwork and what is not an artwork?), and including art definitions, art manifestos, opinions on the role of art, beauty, and aesthetic perception of art. Aesthetic education and ways of looking at art complete the chapter.
Web interfaces challenge traditional definitions of usability. A three phase model for website evaluation is proposed, based
on initial attractiveness, exploration/navigation and transaction. Usabilityis rede fined as trade-o. between increasing the
user’s motivation to encourage exploration and purchasing in e-commerce, and the costs of usability errors. Heuristics for
assessing the attractiveness of web user interfaces are proposed based on aesthetic design, general arousal created bycontent,
corporate identityand brand, and the perceived utilitymatc hed to users’ requirements. The heuristics are tested byev aluating
three airline websites to demonstrate how different attractiveness and traditional usabilitytrade-offs contribute to overall
effectiveness.
There is a growing interest in considering aesthetic aspects in the design of interactive systems. A set of approaches are emerging each representing different applications of the terminology as well as different inherent assumptions on the role of the user, designer and interaction ideals. In this paper, we use the concept of Pragmatist Aesthetics to provide a framework for distinguishing between different approaches to aesthetics. Moreover, we use our own design cases to illustrate how pragmatist aesthetics is a promising path to follow in the context of designing interactive systems, as it promotes aesthetics of use, rather than aesthetics of appearance. We coin this approach in the perspective of aesthetic interaction. Finally we make the point that aesthetics is not re-defining everything known about interactive systems. We provide a framework placing this perspective among other perspectives on interaction.
(1) We give reasons for our judgements of works of art. (2) Reasons are inherently general, and hence dependent on principles. (3) There are no principles of aesthetic evaluation. Each of these three propositions seems plausible, yet one of them must be false. Illusionism denies (1). Particularism denies (2). Generalism denies (3). We argue that illusionism depends on an unacceptable account of the use of critical language. Particularism cannot account for the connection between reasons and verdicts in criticism. Generalism comes in two forms: reversible generalism is the thesis that there are meaningful generalizations in criticism that admit of exceptions; irreversible generalism is the thesis that such generalizations cannot admit of exceptions. It is argued that Frank Sibley's defence of reversible generalism cannot provide a criterion for distinguishing valenced from nonvalenced properties, and thus fails. Irreversible generalism is correct: it is logically cogent and fits our critical practices.
Using explicit (subjective evaluations) and implicit (response latency) measures, this study replicated and extended the findings by Fernandes et al (2003), who found that immediate aesthetic impressions of web pages are remarkably consistent. Forty participants evaluated 50 web pages in two phases. The degree to which web pages were regarded, on average, as attractive after a very short exposure of 0.5 sec. was highly correlated with attractiveness ratings after an exposure of 10 seconds. Extreme attractiveness evaluations (both positive and negative) were faster than moderate evaluations, providing convergent evidence to the hypothesis of immediate impression. Overall, the results provide direct evidence in support of the premise that aesthetic impression of the IT artifacts are formed quickly. Indirectly, the results suggest that visual aesthetics can play an important role in users' evaluations of the IT artifact.
Gestalt psychologists promulgated the principles of visual organisation in the early twentieth century. These principles have been discussed and re-emphasised, and their importance and relevance to user interface design is understood. How-ever, a limited number of systems represent and make adequate use of this knowledge in the form of a design tool that supports certain aspects of the user interface design process. The graphic design rules that these systems use are extremely rudimentary and often vastly oversimplified. Most of them have no concept of design basics such as visual balance or rhythm. In this paper, we at-tempt to synthesize the guidelines and empirical data related to the formatting of screen layouts into a well-defined model. Fourteen aesthetic characteristics have been selected for that purpose. The results of our exercise suggest that these characteristics are important to prospective viewers.
Graph layout algorithms typically conform to one or more aesthetic criteria (e.g. minimizing the number of bends, maximizing orthogonality). Determining the extent to which a graph drawing conforms to an aesthetic criterion tends to be done informally, and varies between different algorithms. This paper presents formal metrics for measuring the aesthetic presence in a graph drawing for seven common aesthetic criteria, applicable to any graph drawing of any size. The metrics are useful for determining the aesthetic quality of a given graph drawing, or for defining a cost function for genetic algorithms or simulated annealing programs. The metrics are continuous, so that aesthetic quality is not stated as a binary conformance decision (i.e. the drawing either conforms to the aesthetic or not), but can be stated as the extent of aesthetic conformance using a number between 0 and 1. The paper presents the seven metric formulae. The application of these metrics is demonstrated through the aesthetic analysis of example graph drawings produced by common layout algorithms.
A variety of information visualization tools have been developed recently, but relatively little effort has been made to evaluate the effectiveness and utility of the tools. This article describes results from two empirical studies of two visualization tools for depicting hierarchies, in particular, computer file and directory structures. The two tools examined implement space-filling methodologies, one rectangular, the Treemap method, and one circular, the Sunburst method. Participants performed typical file/directory search and analysis tasks using the two tools. In general, performance trends favored the Sunburst tool with respect to correct task performance, particularly on initial use. Performance with Treemap tended to improve over time and use, suggesting a greater learning cost that was partially recouped over time. Each tool afforded somewhat different search strategies, which also appeared to influence performance. Finally, participants strongly preferred the Sunburst tool, citing better ability to convey structure and hierarchy.
The credibility of web sites is becoming an increasingly important area to understand. To expand knowledge in this domain, we conducted an online study that investigated how different elements of Web sites affect people's perception of credibility. Over 1400 people participated in this study, both from the U.S. and Europe, evaluating 51 different Web site elements. The data showed which elements boost and which elements hurt perceptions of Web credibility. Through analysis we found these elements fell into one of seven factors. In order of impact, the five types of elements that increased credibility perceptions were “real-world feel”, “ease of use”, “expertise”, “trustworthiness”, and “tailoring”. The two types of elements that hurt credibility were “commercial implications&rdquo ;and “amateurism”. This large-scale study lays the groundwork for further research into the elements that affect Web credibility. The results also suggest implications for designing credible Web sites.
Qualities beyond usefulness and traditional usability are increasingly being recognised as important in HCI. A common understanding of which factors affect the overall user experience and how they interrelate is still to be established. In a theory-led approach, users' perceptions of qualities that together contribute to the overall 'attractiveness' of a system are investigated. An empirical study with three live websites from Stanford University demonstrates a halo effect of aesthetics on perceptions of usability and content. However, the perception and impact of aesthetics are significantly affected by users' backgrounds and tasks.
Three experiments were conducted to validate and replicate. in a different cultural setting. the results of a study by Kurosu and Kashimura [12] concerning the relationships between users’ perceptions of interface aesthetics and usability. The results support the basic tindings by Kurosu and Kashimura. Very high correlations were found between perceived aesthetics of the interface and a priori perceived ease of use of the system. Differences of magnitude between correlations obtained in Japan and in Israel suggest the existence of cross-cultural differences. but these were not in the hypothesized direction.
This paper proposes a conceptual model for which one might begin to assess aesthetic effect within the user experience of information visualization. Through first defining, then illustrating new dimensions of aesthetic that exist within the context of information visualization, this paper goes on to suggest that a user centered evaluation method not solely centered around task efficiency metrics is now imperative
This paper describes a comparative experiment with five well-known tree visualization systems, and Windows Explorer as a baseline system. Subjects performed tasks relating to the structure of a directory hierarchy, and to attributes of files and directories. Task completion times, correctness and user satisfaction were measured, and video recordings of subjects' interaction with the systems were made. Significant system and task type effects and an interaction between system and task type were found. Qualitative analyses of the video recordings were thereupon conducted to determine reasons for the observed differences, resulting in several findings and design recommendations as well as implications for future experiments with tree visualization systems
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