Class Two: Design Principles Flashcards
Perceptual Inference
most of the info you get from a visualization is processed in the first 500 ms when we see it
this is why we have pattern recognition (size, color, shape)
What is the info processing model
Cognition
process of ingesting and interpreting an image
Working memory
is a central construct of the cognitive process
it is not our long term memory!
working memory encodes info and stores it in our long term memory
3 types of memory
iconic memory (memory of visual images, us being able to see an image and understand it unconsciously)
short term memory (where we deal with cognitivie load)
long term memory (where memories are kept indefinitively)
what is cognitive load?
the amount of mental effort required to interpret information
3 types of cognitive load
intrinsic: amount of memory we need to understand an idea;a base load of us trying to understand a task and store it into memory
extraneous: the additional load placed on users by the design of a task- how info is presented (if you create a poorly designed vis, there is an uncessary extraneous load created)
germane: a way for the brain to lok for patterns to develop context
What is the goal of data visualizations
ot minimize cognitive load yet accuractely communicate your message
this is the EFFICACY OF A VISUALIZATION
Clutter
all the things you remove while still preserving key ideas
- reduce clutter to minimize
What are some strategies to help users understand the important parats of visualization
Pre attentive attributes: visual cues that pop out at us wihtout conscious effort (colour, shapes, patterns)
3 models of colour
RGB
CMYK (CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW, KEY)
HSL (HUE, SATURATION, LIGHTNESS)
tYPES OF COLOR BLINDNESS
Red green color blindness: more common
blue yellow color blindness: less common
Deutan color blindness
do not detect enough green and are sensitive to roy
proton color blindeness
do not detect red, too sensitive to green yello orange
tritan color blindness
causes confuseion between blue v green, red v purple
Monochromacy
see only in black and white
RULES OF THUMB
- Dont put red and green on top of or next to each other, consider red on one side and green on other (or use a light green and dark red)
- vary color intensity
- use darkness or lightness
- use symbols
- dont use the 3D effects because it seems mathematically incorrect
use a colorblind freindly palette
blue/orange, blue/red, blue/brown
Pre Attentive attribute: form
spatial positioning
2D: often best way to deliver daata
Steroscopic depth: percieve depth by combining images generated by left and irght eyes in the brain
Concave and convex positioning: this can bec reated through shading
edward tufte concepts
chart junk: excessive graphical effects (reduce this)
data-ink ratio: 1 minus proportion of the the graph that can be erased without the loss of information
data-density: how much of the graph tht is dedicated to displaying the data (increase the density)
lie-factor: size of ffect shown in a graphic and the size of the effect shown in the data
kaiser funds junk charts trifecta
- what is the practical quesiton
- what does the data say
- what is the visualization saying
pre attentive attirbutes
color hue, orientation, color brightness, color saturation, size, texture, position and alignment, shape
form
2D positioning – this is often the best way to
deliver data that can be easily recognized and
processed visually
‒ Stereoscopic depth - we perceive depth by
combining the images generated by the left
and right eyes in the brain
‒ Concave and convex positioning – this can be
created through the use of shading
gestalt principles
law of prxomity: objects placed close together are related
law of similarity: similar characterisitcs and attributes
law of enclosure: physically enclosed separates items
law of clossure: The mind’s ability to fill in gaps; You can strip elements away and the graph still appears as part of a whole and the data stands out more
law of continuty: Our eyes like to draw continuous lines, even where they may not explicitly exist
law of connection: objects that are connected to each other with a line
Kaiser Fung’s Junk Charts Trifecta Checkup
- What is the practical question?
- What does the data say?
- What does the visual say?
visualization art and science
Color: should be use very strategically/intentionally and sparingly to highlight what
you want the audience to see in your visual
Alignment: ensure that there are clean vertical and horizontal lines
Leveraging white space: to be able to differentiate aspects of the visuals
Make it legible: use easy-to-read font and straightforward language
