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Project 3: Interactive Visualization - Peer Grading

You will review two Project 3 submissions from your classmates and share constructive feedback. This assignment is an opportunity to both (a) develop skills to effectively evaluate and critically analyze visualization designs, and (b) help guide subsequent efforts by your peers to improve project quality and visualization design across the class.

Assignment

For each peer review, begin by engaging with the prototype. Interact with the visualization and try to exhaustively cover the views and interactions that the prototype supports. Note what you discover and learn about the data set as you do so. Be sure to also read the write-ups to gain more insight into the process and design decisions behind the prototype.

Next, author a constructive critique of the visualization covering at least the following concerns:

  • Visual Encodings. Are expressive and effective visual encodings applied? How well do they reveal the most important features or trends of the underlying data? Is critical data easily seen, or is it unnecessarily “hidden” and only revealed in response to interaction? Is the target audience likely to understand the visualization?
  • Interaction Techniques. Do the supported interaction techniques enable more effective discovery of interesting trends, patterns or outliers? Do they engage the viewer in a process of meaningful exploration or learning? Are the interactions well-implemented, without notable performance issues or usability problems?
  • Design Quality. Assess the overall design quality in terms of organization and presentation. Are elements appropriately titled or labeled? Is there appropriate spacing, layout, legible type, and other forms of design styling? Is it clear where to begin viewing/interacting with the design? Is the overall display confusing or cluttered? How successful is the prototype in meeting the intended goals?

For each of the concerns listed above – visual encodings, interaction techniques, and overall design quality – we recommend using the “I like / I wish / What if?” format. Be sure to share positive feedback on effective aspects, critical (but respectful!) feedback on what might be improved, and more wild (even half-baked) ideas a team might explore in subsequent design iterations. Each peer review should contain at least a dozen such comments (average of 4 comments for each section (I Like/I wish/What if?)), often much more!

Submission Details

This is an individual assignment. You may not work in groups.

Your peer reviews are due Tue 05/21, 11:59pm. The links to the submissions that you are required to evaluate will be emailed to you. You must submit peer reviews for two Project 3 submissions. To submit your review, you must use gradescope. Please carefully respond to each of the questions raised.