An Evaluation of the Impact of Visual Embellishments in Bar Charts

Skau, Drew; Harrison, Lane; Kosara, Robert

doi:10.1111/cgf.12634

Cited by 49 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…They actually may be good to attract attention and entertain, but their utility, from the point of view of quantitative rigor, is questionable. A recent study showed that, for bar charts, most embellishments reduce the accuracy estimating quantities [1], while Zacks et al [2] had previously shown that some extraneous features, such as 3D volumetric bars, also harm perception.…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This amounts a total of 72 charts, with 2 bars per chart, which makes 144 answers per user. The values of the bars were generated randomly in the range [3,97], to prevent overly simple judgments where the bars might be completely aligned with the axis, as suggested in [1]. This experiment was performed in a controlled environment with displays of 21-24 inches in good lighting conditions.…”

Section: Experimental Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the embellishments used in bar charts tend to increase the error in the perceived quantities [1], [2]. Their defenders claim that they may increase memorability and thus reach a broader audience [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving Perception Accuracy in Bar Charts with Internal Contrast and Framing Enhancements

Díaz¹,

Meruvia-Pastor

Vázquez³

2018

2018 22nd International Conference Information Visualisation (IV)

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Bar charts are among the most commonly used visualization graphs. Their main goal is to communicate quantities that can be visually compared. Since they are easy to produce and interpret, they are found in any situation where quantitative data needs to be conveyed (websites, newspapers, etc.). However, depending on the layout, the perceived values can vary substantially. For instance, previous research has shown that the positioning of bars (e.g. stacked vs separate) may influence the accuracy in bar ratio length estimation. Other works have studied the effects of embellishments on the perception of encoded quantities. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the effect of perceptual elements used to reinforce the quantity depicted within the bars, such as contrast and inner lines, has not been studied in depth. In this research we present a study that analyzes the effect of several internal contrast and framing enhancements with respect to the use of basic solid bars. Our results show that the addition of minimal visual elements that are easy to implement with current technology can help users to better recognize the amounts depicted by the bar charts.

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Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Improving Perception Accuracy in Bar Charts with Internal Contrast and Framing Enhancements

Díaz¹,

Meruvia-Pastor

Vázquez³

2018

2018 22nd International Conference Information Visualisation (IV)

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“…Work in this direction explores how additional visual cues and reference structures can improve perception. Skau et al [SHK15] studied visual embellishments in bar charts and found that they indeed have an impact on the effectiveness of perceiving the chart data. Reference structures such as grids and tick marks are frequently recommended for data charts to aid in relating content to axes [Kos06].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of the Effect of Doughnut Chart Parameters on Proportion Estimation Accuracy

Cai

Efstathiou

Xie

et al. 2018

Computer Graphics Forum

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Pie and doughnut charts nicely convey the part–whole relationship and they have become the most recognizable chart types for representing proportions in business and data statistics. Many experiments have been carried out to study human perception of the pie chart, while the corresponding aspects of the doughnut chart have seldom been tested, even though the doughnut chart and the pie chart share several similarities. In this paper, we report on a series of experiments in which we explored the effect of a few fundamental design parameters of doughnut charts, and additional visual cues, on the accuracy of such charts for proportion estimates. Since mobile devices are becoming the primary devices for casual reading, we performed all our experiments on such device. Moreover, the screen size of mobile devices is limited and it is therefore important to know how such size constraint affects the proportion accuracy. For this reason, in our first experiment we tested the chart size and we found that it has no significant effect on proportion accuracy. In our second experiment, we focused on the effect of the doughnut chart inner radius and we found that the proportion accuracy is insensitive to the inner radius, except the case of the thinnest doughnut chart. In the third experiment, we studied the effect of visual cues and found that marking the centre of the doughnut chart or adding tick marks at 25% intervals improves the proportion accuracy. Based on the results of the three experiments, we discuss the design of doughnut charts and offer suggestions for improving the accuracy of proportion estimates.

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“…Visual embellishments, e.g., rounded tops for bar charts, can impact absolute and relative judgments negatively [Skau et al, 2015]. While one study found a relation between a high data-ink ratio and faster response times as well as greater accuracy under specific conditions [Gillan and Richman, 1994], others could not confirm these results [Spence, 1990;Blasio and Bisantz, 2002;Kulla-Mader, 2007;Moere et al, 2012].…”

Section: Perception and Data Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Potential of Physical Visualizations

Stusak¹

2015

Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction

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The goal of an external representation of abstract data is to provide insights and convey information about the structure of the underlying data, therefore helping people execute tasks and solve problems more effectively. Apart from the popular and well-studied digital visualization of abstract data there are other scarcely studied perceptual channels to represent data such as taste, sound or haptic. My thesis focuses on the latter and explores in which ways human knowledge and ability to sense and interact with the physical non-digital world can be used to enhance the way in which people analyze and explore abstract data. Emerging technological progress in digital fabrication allow an easy, fast and inexpensive production of physical objects. Machines such as laser cutters and 3D printers enable an accurate fabrication of physical visualizations with different form factors as well as materials. This creates, for the first time, the opportunity to study the potential of physical visualizations in a broad range.The thesis starts with the description of six prototypes of physical visualizations from static examples to digitally augmented variations to interactive artifacts. Based on these explorations, three promising areas of potential for physical visualizations were identified and investigated in more detail: perception & memorability, communication & collaboration, and motivation & self-reflection.The results of two studies in the area of information recall showed that participants who used a physical bar chart retained more information compared to the digital counterpart. Particularly facts about maximum and minimum values were be remembered more efficiently, when they were perceived from a physical visualization.Two explorative studies dealt with the potential of physical visualizations regarding communication and collaboration. The observations revealed the importance on the design and aesthetic of physical visualizations and indicated a great potential for their utilization by audiences with less interest in technology. The results also exposed the current limitations of physical visualizations, especially in contrast to their well-researched digital counterparts.In the area of motivation we present the design and evaluation of the Activity Sculptures project. We conducted a field study, in which we investigated physical visualizations of personal running activity. It was discovered that these sculptures generated curiosity and experimentation regarding the personal running behavior as well as evoked social dynamics such as discussions and competition.Based on the findings of the aforementioned studies this thesis concludes with two theoretical contributions on the design and potential of physical visualizations. On the one hand, it proposes a conceptual framework for material representations of personal data by describing a production and consumption lens. The goal is to encourage artists and designers working in the field of personal informatics to harness the interactive capabilities af...

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An Evaluation of the Impact of Visual Embellishments in Bar Charts

Cited by 49 publications

References 17 publications

Improving Perception Accuracy in Bar Charts with Internal Contrast and Framing Enhancements

Improving Perception Accuracy in Bar Charts with Internal Contrast and Framing Enhancements

A Study of the Effect of Doughnut Chart Parameters on Proportion Estimation Accuracy

Exploring the Potential of Physical Visualizations

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