An Exploratory Study of Word-Scale Graphics in Data-Rich Text Documents

International audienceWe contribute an investigation of the design and function of word-scale graphics and visualizations embedded in text documents. Word-scale graphics include both data-driven representations such as word-scale visualizations and sparklines, and non-data-driven visual marks. Their design, function, and use has so far received little research attention. We present the results of an open ended exploratory study with 9 graphic designers. The study resulted in a rich collection of different types of graphics, data provenance, and relationships between text, graphics, and data. Based on this corpus, we present a systematic overview of word-scale graphic designs, and examine how designers used them. We also discuss the designers’ goals in creating their graphics, and characterize how they used word-scale graphics to visualize data, add emphasis, and create alternative narratives. Building on these examples, we discuss implications for the design of authoring tools for word-scale graphics and visualizations, and explore how new authoring environments could make it easier for designers to integrate them into documents

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In this dissertation, I explore four initial challenges an online user may encounter when confronted with an information visualization website. The main research question I address is: how might these challenges limit people’s engagement in efficient explorations of data, and how might these limitations be remedied? I define the four challenges in terms of subcosts of van Wijk’s perception and exploration costs; these are: 1) a literacy cost, 2) a context interpretation cost, 3) a perceived interactivity cost, and 4) an initial incentive for exploration cost. For each, I propose either a way to assess or a method to help overcome the sub-cost. I also investigate whether popular techniques recommended for making visualizations engagingoutside of purely analytical contexts can lead online users to explore data.Dans ce manuscrit, j’étudie quatre obstacles potentiels à l’engagement d’un internaute avec une interface de visualisation d’informations interactive. Ma question de recherche principale est : comment ces obstacles sont-ils susceptibles de limiter l’engagement de l’utilisateur dans l’exploration efficace de données et comment remédier à ces limitations ? Je définis les quatre obstacles en termes de sous-coûts de la perception et de l’exploration en me référant au modèle proposé par van Wijk ; ils sont : 1) un coût de littératie, 2) un coût d’interprétation du contexte, 3) un coût de perception d’interactivité et 4) un coût de motivation initiale à explorer des données. Pour chacun, j’adopte soit une approche expérimentale pour mesurer le coût en question, soit une approche design pour aider les internautes à le surmonter. J’évalue aussi l’effet de certains éléments de design de visualisation reconnus pour leurs qualités communicationnelles sur l’engagement des internautes à explorer des données

The CO2 pollution map: Lessons learned from designing a visualization that bridges the gap between visual communication and information visualization. Paper presented at the

Abstract-We present the design of the CO2 Pollution map, a web-based visualization that uses motion design techniques to assist users in interpreting semantic information about the data. We describe our motivations and inspirations, found in the fields of graphic and motion design, and present how free visual variables can be used to create an impression of what the data are about. We finish by reporting an early evaluation of the impact of the visualization, which we published in the form of a data journalism article

Structuring Visualization Mock-ups at a Graphical Level by Dividing the Display Space

International audienceMock-ups are rapid, low fidelity prototypes, that are used in many design-related fields to generate and share ideas. While their creation is supported by many mature methods and tools, surprisingly little are suited for the needs of information visualization. In this article, we introduce a novel approach to creating visualizations mock-ups, based on a dialogue between graphic design and parametric toolkit explorations. Our approach consists in iteratively subdividing the display space, while progressively informing each division with realistic data. We show that a wealth of mock-ups can easily be created using only temporary data attributes, as we wait for more realistic data to become available. We describe the implementation of this approach in a D3-based toolkit, which we use to highlight its generative power, and we discuss the potential for transitioning towards higher fidelity prototypes

Structuring Visualization Mock-Ups at the Graphical Level by Dividing the Display Space

International audienceMock-ups are rapid, low fidelity prototypes, that are used in many design-related fields to generate and share ideas. While their creation is supported by many mature methods and tools, surprisingly little are suited for the needs of information visualization. In this article, we introduce a novel approach to creating visualizations mock-ups, based on a dialogue between graphic design and parametric toolkit explorations. Our approach consists in iteratively subdividing the display space, while progressively informing each division with realistic data. We show that a wealth of mock-ups can easily be created using only temporary data attributes, as we wait for more realistic data to become available. We describe the implementation of this approach in a D3-based toolkit, which we use to highlight its generative power, and we discuss the potential for transitioning towards higher fidelity prototypes

The CO2 Pollution Map: Lessons Learned from Designing a Visualization that Bridges the Gap between Visual Communication and Information Visualization

To appearInternational audienceWe present the design of the CO2 Pollution map, a web-based visualization that uses motion design techniques to assist users in interpreting semantic information about the data. We describe our motivations and inspirations, found in the fields of graphic and motion design, and present how free visual variables can be used to create an impression of what the data are about. We finish by reporting an early evaluation of the impact of the visualization, which we published in the form of a data journalism article

IEEE VIS 2016 Arts Program Exhibition Catalog

International audienc