Information Design Journal - Volume 23, Issue 1, 2017

Working with data is an increasingly powerful way of making knowledge claims about the world. There is, however, a growing gap between those who can work effectively with data and those who cannot. Because it is state and corporate actors who possess the resources to collect, store and analyze data, individuals (e.g., citizens, community members, professionals) are more likely to be the subjects of data than to use data for civic purposes. There is a strong case to be made for cultivating data literacy for people in non-technical fields as one way of bridging this gap. Literacy, following the model of popular education proposed by Paulo Freire, requires not only the acquisition of technical skills but also the emancipation achieved through the literacy process. This article proposes the term creative data literacy to refer to the fact that non-technical learners may need pathways towards data which do not come from technical fields. Here I offer five tactics to cultivate creative data literacy for empowerment. They are grounded in my experience as a data literacy researcher, educator and software developer. Each tactic is explained and introduced with examples. I assert that working towards creative data literacy is not only the work of educators but also of data creators, data publishers, tool developers, tool and visualization designers, tutorial authors, government, community organizers and artists.

The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project is an example of critical visualization practice that interrogates both its own conditions of production and how who is represented is also affected by the representations. In order to describe and analyze this form of practice the notion of assemblage as well as tools from actor-network theory are employed. These concepts allow the researcher or designer to consider how visualizations operate beyond its existence as a discrete representation but rather as a process that weaves a network of humans and non-humans together which is especially relevant to a critical engagement in information visualization practice.

This case study explores concepts and methodologies in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design with a view to increasing information retention and memorisation through the inclusion of human-centred design principles. It focuses on the participants’ individual context, mental state and abilities. In emergencies, visual perception and situation awareness may be restricted due to the impact of sensory symptoms (panic, tunnel vision or limited motor skills), thus calling for a linear course of action. This applied research project, ‘Floodscape’, is a mobile application designed to educate its user about possible inundation zones resulting from a tsunami. Ongoing user engagement through interactive simulation is the prime focus of the initial (dormant) state of the app. In case of an actual tsunami the app registers the event and adapts its UI accordingly. Crucial life-saving wayfinding information will then be displayed in a contextual manner considering contrast, typography, limited user attention and ease of use.

As cultural institutions are digitizing their artifacts and interlinking their collections, new opportunities emerge to engage with cultural heritage. However, it is the often comprehensive and complex nature of collections that can make it difficult to grasp their distribution and extent across a variety of dimensions. After a brief introduction to the research area of collection visualizations, this paper presents a design study visualizing an aggregated collection from diverse cultural institutions in Germany. We detail our iterative design process leading to prototypical implementations of four stylistically and functionally coordinated visualizations, each one focusing on different facets of the collection.

In this article we explore visualization for personal storytelling and investigate techniques for communicating subjective experiences in personal visual narratives. Personal stories are often subjective and storytellers omit, make up, or embellish details to craft engaging stories or to communicate a perspective. As growing personal data collections allow individuals to leverage visualizations, we explore how personal visual narratives can express subjectivity. From an analysis of personal visualizations created by data enthusiasts, designers and artists, we collect techniques for deliberately expressing subjectivity during data collection, processing, visual encoding, and presentation. Our results prompt a discussion about the role and potential of subjectivity in personal visual storytelling.

Despite the high usage of diagrams and images in Wikipedia, as well as across all Wikimedia projects, few studies have been conducted on the role of visual contents within the online encyclopedia and on the collaborative creation of diagrams. This article describes research that brought a group of designers into Wikipedia, with the goal of exploring how information designers act on this platform and how other users react to their involvement. Inspired by the WikiEdu Program, we engaged postgraduate design students in the creation of diagrams for Wikipedia and then followed the reactions of both users and designers to their work. The results of the experiment have been evaluated using built-in Wikipedia functions (e.g., page history and discussion pages) and through an anonymous survey among the students involved. This experience brought to light the different consideration granted to images and diagrams with respect to texts on the online encyclopedia. It also allowed a reflection on the role of designers in the knowledge production process, as well as on the meaning of producing “open” contents, which are meant to be improved by other people.

This study examines how scientists respond to visual design in scientific communications. Specifically, we determine the impact of visual design on the Graphical Abstract (GA), an overview figure that attracts potential readers and visually summarizes what a paper is about. We show that GAs designed in accordance with classic visual design principles significantly enhance readers’ first impressions of a paper. Well-designed GAs make papers seem more interesting, more clearly written and more scientifically rigorous. These results confirm that visual design enhances rather than detracts from the perception of intellectual and scientific competence.

Visual information can have a range of benefits for busy health practitioners. At The BMJ, we often use visuals to provide quick summaries of information from at times lengthy articles. This paper presents a case study of the design process for an interactive graphic on sepsis treatment, aiming to update doctors working in intensive care units of current evidence. Through explaining this design process, four major challenges for the use of interactive graphics in science publishing are highlighted: (1) how to identify suitable knowledge for visualisations; (2) how to select an appropriate depth of information for a particular project; (3) how interactive graphics can be a permanent part of the scientific record, and (4) how they can be deployed across a range of platforms and devices.

Improving the quality of patient care, generally referred to as Quality Improvement (QI), is a constant mission of healthcare. Although QI initiatives take many forms, these typically involve collecting data to measure whether changes to procedures have been made as planned, and whether those changes have achieved the expected outcomes. In principle, such data are used to measure the success of a QI initiative and make further changes if needed. In practice, however, many QI data reports provide only limited insight into changes that could improve patient care. Redesigning standard approaches to QI data can help close the gap between current norms and the potential of QI data to improve patient care. This paper describes our study of QI data needs among healthcare providers and managers at Vancouver Coastal Health, a regional health system in Canada. We present an overview of challenges faced by healthcare providers around QI data collection and visualization, and illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of different visualizations. At present, user– centred and evidence–based design is practically unknown in healthcare QI, and thus offers an important new contribution.