Visualization Online tools Assignment
Checklist – visualizations
- The selected graph is the best option for representing this data
- All numbers double-checked
- Spell check
- Headline/title
- Correct units of measurement
- Description of what the x- and y-axis represent
- Y-axis starts at 0 (If not: Is it clearly shown? Does the editor agree?)
- Conscious choice of colours (explained on request)
- Source
- Instructions for use (if the graph is interactive)
- Context or explanation (if necessary)
- Byline
- Accessibility (contrast, caption for screen readers, attached table etc) (explained on request)
- Understandable for someone who sees the visualization for the first time (show it to someone outside the newsroom)
- The visualization checked on a mobile device
Assignment 1
Datawrapper
a)
This visualization shows the number of operational nuclear reactors worldwide from 1954 to 2023. It depicts a constant rise in nuclear reactors until the year 1989 and a rather stable increasing trend after that, reaching its peak in 2018. The shaded red area under the graph contrasts with the white background, drawing attention to the scale of the increase.
b)
I decided to narrow down the top 6 countries leading in nuclear energy in terms of operational reactors. To visualize this, I first set up the data in an Excel file, which I then uploaded into Datawrapper for chart creation. I chose red as the main color, since it would be visually striking and give a sharp contrast—thus, each bar is easy to distinguish. It underlines the fact that these countries are pioneers in the sphere of nuclear energy.
c)
- Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)?
- Yes, I ensured that the visualization was by the checklist on both graphs.
- Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool?
- Changing colors in Datawrapper was both straightforward and intuitive.
- Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool?
- I found it hard to work with text and labels in Datawrapper, though it has a lot of options to customize the text. It was hard to make them clear, especially if there were multiple data points.
- Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need?
- Datawrapper is flexible. It accommodates a broadarray of chart types and provides options for customizing colors, labels, tooltips, and data points. I think most of the essential adjustments were attainable.
- Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools?
- Datawrapper is pretty accessible by ensuring that the charts are screen-reader friendly. It allows alt text and descriptions to be added to accommodate visually impaired users. All those features really make the visualizations highly accessible.
- Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? Have you faced any issues while accessing them?
- The charts looked good on my phone, I had no major problems viewing or interacting with the chart.
Assignment 2
Flourish
a)
b)
c)
- Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)?
- Yes, I ensured that the visualization was by the checklist on both graphs.
- Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool?
- Changing colors in Flourish was easy intuitive.
- Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool?
- I found working with text and labels in Flourish to be less intuitive and a bit hard.
- Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need?
- Flourish is flexible. It has different types of charts, plus many options to change colors, labels, tooltips, and data points. But some features took more work to adjust.
- Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools?
- Flourish ensures the charts are screen-reader friendly. It also has the facility to add alt text and descriptions for blind users (just like Datawrapper). This makes the visualizations accessible.
- Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? Have you faced any issues while accessing them?
- The charts looked good on my phone.
Assignment 3
Comparison
- In what context do you think Datawrapper is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it?
- Datawrapper is good for quickly making clean and simple visualizations with little need for customizing (static charts and graphs, like bar, line, or pie charts). It's perfect for people who want to make fast and effective visualizations without needing great skills. However, I would not recommend it for very interactive visualizations, complex animations, or projects that need detailed design tweaks.
- What are the main benefits of using Datawrapper?
- I would say Datawrapper is very easy to use, good for people without any design experience, like me. It helps users to come up with simple yet effective charts in quite a short time, stressing on speed in development and inclusive features such as screen-reader support and alt text.
- In what context do you think Flourish is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it?
- Flourish is especially good at creating dynamic and interactive visualizations like those more complex, engaging charts needing animations, transitions. However, I would avoid using it for very simple static charts because it will be too heavy in terms of resources for such basic visualizations that do not find the use for animations or interaction.
- What are the main benefits of using Flourish?
- Key benefits include the creation of interactive and dynamic visualizations that engage viewers. It has full customization options, allowing for complete control over the aesthetic of the charts and other visual elements. Flourish is great at creating animations, which are perfect for showing how data changes over time or when one wants to make a story out of changing visuals. Plus, it has a wide variety of templates to apply in simple to complex visualization needs for advanced data storytelling.
- Which of the tools do you personally prefer so far?
- Right now, I would say Datawrapper, just because it is very user-friendly and simple, especially when I have to come up with very basic, clean visualizations in a fast manner. For the more interactive and visually appealing projects, I would use Flourish, although I found it a bit less intuitive when working with text and labels.