the happy couple: ux design and data visualisation
DESCRIPTION
I gave a short talk for the Hinxton Services Forum on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus. As a warm-up for the Campus Services Day (May 16, 2013), I spoke about the relationship between UX design and data visualisation.TRANSCRIPT
The happy coupleUX design & data visualisation
Francis RowlandHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Made for each other
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Data visualisation and user experience (UX) design go hand-in-hand.Since visualisations have an audience (the users, if you will) then methods and concepts from the UX design world can be applied to help make them as good as they can be.This is particularly the case when we are working on interactive visualisations.
Design is a process
Miriah Myer - design study methodology
Andy Kirk - a five-step plan
Noah Iliinsky - the reader, the designer, the data
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Design isn’t a veneer that you add at the end.Data visualisation expert Noah Iliinsky says that as soon as you begin to make choices about your visualisation, you are designing. Following a process can help you make sense of visualisation challenges and make the most of your data
Design is a process
“Double diamond” stylised/idealised viewProblem space > Solution space
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
The Design Council have a great graphic that illustrates an ideal, somewhat stylised design process.We have the “problem space”, where we get to grips with the data visualisation challenge, exploring possibilities, testing assumptions, and learning about the audience.Then we have the “solution space”, where you begin to develop solutions based on what we’ve learned, and we evaluate them in different ways.
Design is a process
Things are messy
Figuring out what to make > Making things
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
In reality, things are messy, of course.The key thing is that we allow ourselves a period of divergent thinking about a design challenge, before converging on a defined problem that we want to solve.Then we have another period of divergent thinking around possible solutions, before we converge on the thing that actually gets built.We figure out what to make... then we make it.
Design is a process
Things are messy
Figuring out what to make > Making things
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
In reality, things are messy, of course.The key thing is that we allow ourselves a period of divergent thinking about a design challenge, before converging on a defined problem that we want to solve.Then we have another period of divergent thinking around possible solutions, before we converge on the thing that actually gets built.We figure out what to make... then we make it.
Figuring out what to make
Explore your datadimensions, features, challenges
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Experts such as Andy Kirk, Noah Iliinsky and Nathan Yau write about how you can approach your data and learn about it’s edges and features. What can you do with it? What are the limitations?
Learn about the audiencelatent needs, pain points, opportunities
Figuring out what to make
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Data visualisation experts fully accept that we should consider the audience in our design process.Here we are on very familiar UX design territory: particularly thinking about user research, and getting to know your audience.It data visualisation projects, perhaps the most straightforward way to learn about your audience is to interview them. We’re lucky to have access to people using the things we make (at conference and training sessions), so capitalise on that. Talk to them. Don’t expect them to give you solutions. Rather, learn how they think about a topic; how they describe it; how you could frame your visualisation in a way that makes sense to them.
Define thingspurpose, goals, audience, interactive/static, success?
Figuring out what to make
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
What do you, the designer, want to achieve with this visualisation?What do you want your audience to understand or to be able to do?Will the visualisation be static or interactive... or do you need both?And maybe... how are you going to evaluate it and measure its success?
Having defined boundaries can help you decide what, and what not, to include in your design.
Making thingsThis is usually where people start
Photo: jimabeles / Flickr
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
The risk of making the wrong thing is high, particularly when you’re working on interactive visualisations. Of course, you might get it right, and conventions can take you a long way.But perhaps you’re missing out.
Making things
SKETCHING
You do this a lot. I’ve seen you.
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Sketching, not drawing. This isn’t art.It is an excellent way of visualising and communicating ideas.It is cheap and easy (not art, remember!).
Making things
INSPIRATION
What are other people doing?
Jonas Löwgren’s flashcards
Gamestorming: tools for thinking
Jonas Löwgren’s Visualization Catalogue
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
If you’re working on something novel, or you’re thinking that you want to explore something unconventional, where do you start?
Well, based on what you’ve learned about your data and your audience, and what you know you want to convey or make possible with your visualisation, you can begin exploring.
Experimentation
Give yourself some room
Fail (cheaply), explore alternatives, collaborate, stay away from your computer
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Allow yourself room for some divergent thinking when it comes to possible ways to deliver your visualisation. The potential downside of starting to code something up is that you can end up so far down one path that you don’t want to try anything else and you don’t want to throw away what you’ve got!
CommunicationBack of the napkin...
Can you communicate what you want to visualise?
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Can you quickly explain how you want to visualise your data?Can you sketch how it might look and how the audience can use it (if it’s interactive).
Keep it simple - you can even test things with people at coffee breaks...
ResourcesData Visualization: a successful design process - Andy Kirk
Designing Data Visualizations - Noah Iliinsky & Julie Steele
Visualize This - Nathan Yau
Interviewing for Research - Andrew Travers
Interviewing Users - Steve Portigal
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879/ref=sr_1_1?
s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368015040&sr=1-1&keywords=universal+principles+of+design
Evaluating Information Visualizations (paper) - Sheelagh Carpendale
Universal Principles of Design - Lidwell, Kritina, Butler
Sketching the User Experience - Bill Buxton
Gamestorming - Gray, Brown, Macanufo
User research (slides) - Francis Rowland
Design Study Methodology - Sedlmair, Meyer, Munzner
Design process: double diamond model - Design Council
Spark ideas for information visualisation - Francis Rowland (covers Jonas Löwgren’s card deck)
Points of View for Nature Methods - Bang Wong
The happy couple: UX design and data visualisationHinxton Services ForumMay 9, 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Bedtime reading?Also, don’t forget that the Vizbi conference (see vizbi.org) is all about data visualisation aimed at biologists.