Assignment 2: Visualization Critiques

Due: Wednesday, March 17th, 9pm

Instructions

In this assignment, you are to select three visualizations, one from print media, one from the web, and one dashboard or interactive visualization, and use the methods discussed in class to critique them. Do not use visualizations that others have critiqued or that appear in Few, Tufte, or other infovis texts or blogs.

Write a critique of one to two pages (not including images) on each visualization, including who created it and why you think it was created, the creator's background (if known), the story behind the visualization, and your understanding of who the intended users are and what the goals of the visualization are.

Does the visual display of data serve its intended purpose, in your opinion? Include at least three strengths and three weaknesses of each visualization. Capture screenshots or include images of the visualizations in your writeups and use them to illustrate your points. If you find that a visualization can be improved, sketch out or describe a better alternative (this can include changing some details about what was actually plotted, but staying within the main thrust of the visualization).

Note:You should work individually on this assignment.

Grading

Assignments will be graded based on the selection of interesting visualizations, the quality and originality of the analyses, and the quality of the writeups.