Visualisation Online tools
Assignment 1
a) Datawrapper
The line chart is a good option when showing differences over time (Smith, 2022: 22), in this case with the number of operational nuclear reactors worldwide between the years 1954 and 2023. The choice of using a dark red colour for the line was because it creates a high contrast, and the colour does not change drastically for people with colour blindness. Dark red often symbolise intensity, which I thought was suiting for the subject. Since Datawrapper does not allowed headlines/descriptions for the x- and y-axis, I chose to put the description in a small text underneath the graph.
b) Datawrapper
I chose to look at data for the number of nuclear reactors in the top 10 countries. I also sorted the data from highest to lowest so it would be extra clear for the readers that the bar chart starts with the country with the highest number, and then slope downward as the number decreases. I chose to keep the dark red colour since the graphs potentially will be in the same article (or articles covering the same theme/subject), so it visualises that the graph covers a similar topic. Since Datawrapper does not allowed headlines/descriptions for the x- and y-axis, I chose to put the description in a small text underneath the graph – in the same style as the graph above to make it easier for readers to navigate and understand how the charts work.
c) Datawrapper - Questions
- Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)?
- Yes, I have followed the checklist and managed the steps according to the checklist as far as Datawrapper allows. If some things were not possible, like insert headlines for the x- and y-axis, I worked around it.
- Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool?
- Changing colours in Datawrapper is easy once you understand where the setting is.
- Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool?
- The settings for text and labels are easy to navigate and work with – but some options are not available, so a bit of imagination is needed.
- Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need?
- For these graphs and visualisations, I managed to make the changes needed for the chart to look like how I wanted them to. I really like Datawrapper more than Flourish, at least for the standard charts, since the site is more user friendly to navigate in, with the different steps.
- Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools?
- You can do colour blindness checks to see how the colours might change. You can also choose high contrast and insert a text which explains what the chart is showing, for better accessibility.
- Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? Have you faced any issues while accessing them?
- The charts from Datawrapper appears beautifully in the smartphone view. The charts adapts with the height and the length in a very good and visually pleasing way. One issue could potentially be that the line increase in height in a more drastic way, which the viewer can take as a more dramatically increase on the phone compared to the same line chart on a computer screen. However, since the x- och y-axis still shows the same numbers, the line chart is still showing the same trend.
Assignment 2
a) Flourish
The number of operational nuclear reactors worldwide between the years 1954 and 2023 shows a change over time, and therefore was a line chart a good option (Smith, 2022: 22). The choice of using a dark red colour for the line was because it creates a high contrast, and the colour does not change drastically for people with colour blindness. I also think that the colour creates a feeling of seriousness.
b) Flourish
This bar chart shows the number of nuclear reactors in the top 10 countries. I chose to keep the dark red colour since the graphs potentially will be in the same article (or articles with the same theme), so it visualises that the graph covers a similar topic. Flourish allows headlines for the x- and y-axis, which makes it easier for the viewers to navigate the graph.
c) Flourish - Questions
- Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)?
- Yes I have, a friend also looked at the visualisations to see if it was easy to understand the different charts.
- Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool?
- Changing the colours in Flourish is easy, but since all the changes are in the same "step", it is harder to navigate – and also miss steps along the way, in my opinion.
- Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool?
- It is easy to change and work with text and labels once you navigate where the different functions are located.
- Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need?
- For these "basic" charts the tool is flexible and easy to work with. It just takes a bit of time to learn were all the functions are hiding.
- Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools?
- In Flourish there is a "Accessibility" option where you can enter a text for people with visional impairment.
- Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? Have you faced any issues while accessing them?
- The charts work when looking at them in a smartphone, but Datawrapper adapts even better in my opinion. The reason for that is that the charts length is not changing as much, which makes the chart smaller. It is good that it stays the same on a smartphone and computer screen when it comes to that the change between the values send out the same visual message to the viewer, but it also makes it harder to see properly on the smartphone screen.
Assignment 3
- In what context do you think Datawrapper is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it?
- Datawrapper is the best tool when it comes to being easy and fast to work with – which can be very help full in newsrooms when some articles needs to be published fast. The charts are often interactive and they adapt well on both smartphones and computers.
- What are the main benefits of using Datawrapper?
- The main benefits of using Datawrapper is when doing the more "basic" charts, as line charts and bar charts, since they often are not in need of complex adaptions or complex ways of interact with them. It is also good that some elements are automatically inserted into the design, without having to adjust them that much, which is very good at times of short dead lines for news articles. Datawapper is therefore a very user friendly program for journalists.
- In what context do you think Flourish is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it?
- When the time allows it, I think Flourish would be great for long-read articles that dives in more deeply into different issues. I also think Flourish would be a better option when having more complex data, since the program is giving more space than Datawrapper when it comes to every user's own creativity – but it would also be more time consuming to learn all the functions. Therefore, I would not use it for fast and straight forward news articles with a short dead line.
- What are the main benefits of using Flourish?
- In Flourish you can adapt the graphs to a much higher distinct. You can adjust a lot into detail, with everything from colours, stickers, axis etc, which makes it more advanced. It also provides a lot of complex functions, which I have not dared to try yet, like the storytelling part of the program. The main benefit is that it is more creative and that it allows users to visualise complex data, and layers of information, in a way which Datawrapper does not allowed.
- Which of the tools do you personally prefer so far?
- At this point, I definitely prefer Datawrapper. With less effort, it creates beautifully visualisations in which the viewers can interact with. It is also less time consuming to work with. In the future however, I think I will be very happy of getting the opportunity to learn Flourish, since it allows greater creativity and space to visualise complex data in an interactive and beautiful way.