LECTURE 03: VISUALIZATION FUNDAMENTALS PT. 2 February 8, 2015 SDS 136 Communicating with Data
Quick note on aggregation
Outline Flashback: building blocks and mental models Putting marks together Group activity: what we draw vs. what we see Discussion
Flashback: building blocks of visualization areas lines points Position Size Value Color Orientation Shape graphical primitives dimensions
Flashback: mental models Question: How do we manage to navigate the world?
The “gestalt effect”
Our brain’s ability to generate whole forms, instead of just collections of unrelated elements 4 key principles
1. Reification Demonstration of reification in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 52, Fig. 3.3
1. Reification Demonstration of reification in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 52, Fig. 3.3
1. Reification Demonstration of reification in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 52, Fig. 3.3
2. Emergence Life Magazine: 58; , p 120. Photographer: Ronald C James
3. Multistability
4. Invariance Demonstration of invariance in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 53, Fig. 3.5
4. Invariance Demonstration of invariance in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 53, Fig. 3.5
4. Invariance Demonstration of invariance in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 53, Fig. 3.5
4. Invariance Demonstration of invariance in perception from Lehar S. (2003) The World In Your Head, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. p. 53, Fig. 3.5
What does this mean for visualization? areas lines points ? 6 “Laws of Grouping”
Law of Proximity We interpret objects that are close to each other as a group
Law of Similarity We interpret objects that are visually similar to each other as a group “grey dots” “black dots”
Law of Closure When parts of a picture are missing, we fill in the visual gap
Law of Symmetry We perceive objects as being symmetrical, arranged around a center point [ ] { } [ ] law of proximity law of symmetry + law of similarity
Law of Common Fate We group objects that we perceive to be moving along the same path
Law of Continuity We tend to group objects along the smoothest path
Group activity: what we draw vs. what we see Break into teams of 2-3 people Team 1: Seattle Real Estate Markets goo.gl/HNzErLgoo.gl/HNzErL Team 2: Microlending Around the World goo.gl/9GGsbcgoo.gl/9GGsbc Team 3: Teacher Retention in Austin, TX goo.gl/ezHNg5goo.gl/ezHNg5 Team 4: Spread of Information on Twittergoo.gl/x3UZR4goo.gl/x3UZR4 Team 5: 2011 Japan Earthquake goo.gl/mMz3zLgoo.gl/mMz3zL Goal: identify as many examples of the gestalt principles in action in your sample visualization as you can
Group activity: what we draw vs. what we see Team 1: goo.gl/HNzErLgoo.gl/HNzErL Team 2: goo.gl/9GGsbcgoo.gl/9GGsbc Team 3: goo.gl/ezHNg5goo.gl/ezHNg5 Team 4: goo.gl/x3UZR4goo.gl/x3UZR4 Team 5: goo.gl/mMz3zLgoo.gl/mMz3zL proximity similarity closure [ ] symmetry common fate continuity
Up next Showing correlation w/ scatterplots (mini-lecture and lab) Reminder: - Submit your Piazza post for Bar/Line Chart Lab (11 out of 14) - A1 Piazza post due Wednesday Feb. 10 by 11:59pm
Questions?