Visual Storytelling with Maps

Abstract

Visual storytelling describes the communication of stories through illustrations, graphics, imagery, and video instead of, or in addition to, oral, written, and audio formats. Compared to their popularity and wide reach, empirical research on map-based visual stories remains limited. We work towards infilling this gap through an empirical study on data journalism, providing the first assessment of four emerging design considerations for visual storytelling with maps: story map themes and their constituent narrative elements, visual storytelling genres, visual storytelling tropes, and individual audience differences. Specifically, we recruited 125 participants to an online map study, requiring them to separately review two visual stories and respond to a series of free-response and Likert scale questions regarding their retention, comprehension, and reaction. We followed a 2×2×2 factorial design for the visual stories, varying their themes (US presidential campaign donations, US coastal sea-level rise), genres (longform infographic, dynamic slideshow), and tropes (color highlighting, leader lines), while holding other design dimensions constant. The story theme did not influence the participants’ total retention or comprehension, indicating that a three-act narrative and its constituent elements can be applied consistently and effectively across variable kinds of topics. Instead, genres and, to a weaker degree, tropes influenced total participant retention, pointing to the importance of intentional design in map-based visual storytelling. Participants overall performed better when the visual storytelling designs used longform infographics or “scrollytelling” (genres) to structure content and leader lines (tropes) to visually accent information. In contrast, the story theme influenced audience reaction, with participants feeling significantly more concerned about and upset with the US presidential campaign donations story compared to the US sea-level rise story. Individual audience differences by expertise, motivation, and prior beliefs also influenced participant reaction. Our study signals a need for establishing a research and education agenda on map-based visual storytelling in both cartography and data journalism.

Understanding Reader Takeaways in Thematic Maps Under Varying Text, Detail, and Spatial Autocorrelation

“…Slocum et al's textbook [46] on thematic cartography categorizes three primary map types suitable for visualizing a univariate measure in a geographic context, each accompanied by relevant examples:…”

“…Story maps integrate maps and text, organized in the form of focused narratives. They have been used as an engaging method for showing compelling evidence of the rise in global sea levels [46] and the spread of COVID-19 [38]. In the context of data journalism, Song et al [46] studied whether themes (US presidential campaign donations, US coastal sea-level rise), genres (longform infographic, dynamic slideshow), or tropes (color highlighting, leader lines), would influence reader retention or comprehension.…”

“…They have been used as an engaging method for showing compelling evidence of the rise in global sea levels [46] and the spread of COVID-19 [38]. In the context of data journalism, Song et al [46] studied whether themes (US presidential campaign donations, US coastal sea-level rise), genres (longform infographic, dynamic slideshow), or tropes (color highlighting, leader lines), would influence reader retention or comprehension. They found that the story theme had no influence, while participants performed better using long-form infographics and leader lines.…”

A Characterization of Interactive Visual Data Stories With a Spatio‐Temporal Context

“…Based on Roth's design space, Song et al. [SRH*22] performed an empirical study to compare the influence of selected design decisions on the reader's retention, comprehension, and reaction. Moreover, Biriukov proposed a classification of maps in the context of interactive storytelling, along with recommended tools and libraries as development guidance [Bir21].…”

Antarctica storytelling: creating interactive story maps for polar regions with graphic-based approach

“…Story maps are one or more maps integrated into a narrative structure following a story arc, often feature a blend of texts, visuals, multimedia, and interactive elements [22]. This unique combination has led to the extensive adoption of story maps in data journalism, where they provide a compelling visual-spatial medium for narratives [29]. Some authoring tools have lowered the barrier to creating story maps [9,17,13], enabling users with limited programming skills to independently create story maps on specific themes.…”