Homework 7 - Design a perceptual study!

Overview: How do we understand what makes a visualization effective? It’s easy to have preferences, but making a good scientific argument requires data to support it. In this assignment you’ll collect such data for a study of your own design. Your goal should be to focus on a particular choice you might make when creating a visualization, such as color schemes, aesthetic mappings, geometries, use of chart junk etc., and try to arrive at a concrete answer for which (if any) choice is best.

Requirements:

• Create perception test for evaluating the effectiveness of a visualization choice.

  • The easiest setup for this type of experiment is to create 2 or more visualizations that change a single element between them, such as the colors or encodings used, and test how quickly and accurately a user is able to estimate a specific value or comparison.

  • You could also try to test other metrics such as retention or preference.

  • Take a look at some of the papers we’ve referenced in class for inspiration!

• Setup a web page to allow for participation in your study. Your class peers will all participate.

  • The easiest way to do this is to use Google forms, but you’re welcome to collect data with other tools!

  • Make sure to include very clear instructions for how to participate in the study. If participants need to time themselves or interact with others, make sure to state this clearly.

  • If possible and relevant, randomize the order of questions to reduce biases in your study. (Ideally you could randomize the questions themselves, e.g. by changing values, but this is difficult to setup).

• Write a short paragraph explaining the question to intends to answer with your study, how your experiment will answer this question and any possible shortcomings of your approach.

• Your submission to canvas should be a document will all of the relevant visualizations and instructions for your study, as well as your explanation and a link to the form or page that you setup.

You should follow the standard instructions for submitting this assignment on Canvas.