Visualization Critique (2024)

[venkatrajam]

Assignment 1: Visualization Critique

Find a simple, stand-alone, static visualization and write a short critique on: How effective is it at what it aims to do? What works well and what doesn't? What could be better?

You comment should contain:

Title of the example with one image (add url reference if it is online) Short critique (could be in paragraphs or bullet points) You can edit or update your comment anytime after you post, but do not make multiple comments. If your github username is not your actual name, include it in the comment/comment title.

Check out past works 2023, 2022 & 2021 for reference, but select new examples.

[yashrawat458]

Yashwant Rawat - 23M2254

Where Does all the World’s Food Go? - Information is beautiful

Following is a graphic on global food production & consumption created for New Internationalist magazine in 2020. Part of a special wide-ranging edition around global food justice.

Following graphic beautifully visualizes a rich data set of how much food we produce and how do we consume. The analysis written below is aimed at making the visualization richer in terms of information it could convey with more clarity with-in the same frame.

Analysis -

1. Graphic could have included a sum total of food produced in an year with land it is grown upon since land is a common constraint b/w human population and food produced.
2. Missing division od food conusmed b/w the the regions. Example - Percentage division of how much % of milk and dairy goes to which region.
3. Conflicting use of colors.
4. Unspecified use of use of tints.
5. Total population of the region could have been added to paint a richer image of consumption.
6. Current visualization of amount consumed Per person per year shows the amount as an absolute, a different visualization that compares the consumption or that allows for easier cognitive processing could have been used.
7. Unclear use or missing definition of over and under consumed.
8. Maps could have been placed earlier for context.
9. More information on wastage of food would make the graphic richer. As the information is contrary to what one might assume about to food shortage.

[vijayanand-25]

Vijayanand Banahatti (23D1322)

Why Hackers Hack: The Motives Behind Cyberattacks [visualcapitalist] This infographic developed by visualcapitalist uses data from Radware and verizon data. It breaks down the statistics from these large global studies on cybersecurity.

Short critique:

1. Mixing two data sources in one infographics is creating confusion as in one dataset its Global study of large organization that were victim of cyberattacks and another is study is about 2000 data breaches.
2. “Motive behind cyber-attack” from Radware has 7 category and “Motive” from Verizon has 3 category.
3. “Motive behind cyber-attack” visualization is shown in plain numbers (in %) but the numbers are do not add up to 100%. So it’s confusing to understand how total can be more than 100% ? (Improvement – normalization of data may help)
4. The same issue with the second bar graph “Who is behind data breaches” where 6 categories do not add up to 100%.
5. The “Data breaches, by pattern and motive” visualization has legend described on top. white circle for 1-10, Red circle for 31-60 and Black for 101+ but empty circle is not clear if its missing vales or 0.
6. The “Data breaches, by pattern and motive” visualization has two legends one used to show numbers line (white circle for 1-10) and same white colour on right side used for Financial motive. Inconsistent color usage creating confusion and difficulty in interpretation..
7. The “Pattern” grid has column indicating patterns and rows indicating industry sectors but it’s not mentioned so reader needs to assume this.
8. The Healthcare motive is not correctly represented, as its has Espinogae value in pattern but not shown in right side "Motive" bar graph.
9. The pattern and motive plotted on same graph with left side pattern and right-side motive. This is not giving any indication of which pattern is used for which motive.

Can be improved on following: a. Normalize data from 2 sources OR remove one data source to avoid confusion. b. Use of better colours and legends. c. Instead of using dot use of circle with diameter to indicate size. d. Visualization to show relation between Pattern and motive needs some rethinking.

[gouraang-gune]

Gouraang Gune - 22B3632

Colours in Culture by David McCandless, Information is Beautiful

Colours in Culture

Strengths

• Circular layout and colour-coded sections effectively arrange data to look visually appealing at first glance.
• It also tries to prevents emergence of any unwanted hierarchy or ranking of different cultures that might occur due to a linear or tabular arrangement which can lead to unwanted discord.
• The infographic includes a wide range of cultures and showcases their perspectives on various colours, providing depth to the infographic and effectively displays itself as a celebration of diversity.

Weaknesses

• Contrast is very less. Small point size text easily lends in with background.
• It is difficult to track colours to their respective cultures as they are too far away and there is no grid to direct the viewer.
• A hierarchy still exists in the way the cultures are arranged as the point size of J (South America) and the area occupied by it is significantly less than the point size of A (Western/American) and its area.
• The infographic does not allow for smooth eye movement and forces viewers to constantly go back and forth from colour to alphabet to number in both the legend AND the graph , making the viewing experience very cumbersome.
• There are certain points on the graph where the same colour is adjacent to itself, the area created by them can mislead viewers and prove to be confusing at first glance.
• There is no clear distinction between the Cultures and the Numbers in the legend.
• Unnecessary negative space in the centre.

Improvements

• Arranging data in a tabular grid, with cultures at the top will make for a much easier viewing experience.
• Instead of numbers, it is possible to write the meanings of the colours directly onto the graph. This will significantly reduce the cognitive load viewers have to bear.
• Adding circular grids will help in tracking distant colours to the correct cultures.
• Using a darker background will allow for the white text to be clearly visible.
• Negative space in the centre could have been used to write the title of the infographic and given a clear idea of what the infographic is about in the first glance, as the colours attract the viewers attention, overshadowing the actual title.

[saikatb1swas]

Saikat Biswas, 23M2255

Most Used Flag Elements: https://flagstories.co/post/156630568458/most-used-flag-elements#156630568458

Effectiveness:

• The visualisation aims to communicate the most used elements (essentially shapes) in national flags.

• It does so by 1) breaking every national flag into its elemental shapes, then 2) grouping them based on similarity, 3) counting the occurrences within each shape type, and 4) arranging them into bar charts.

• Being a bar chart, the most frequent shape is towering high over the others, effectively showing the prominent trend in shape usage - the rectangle being the most common shape in national flags. However, it does have faults and fails to offer the complete picture of the findings because of its design choices.

Things that work ✅:

1) Although not being the primary motive of the visualisation, retaining the colour and shape of the elements as present in the national flags, adds visual intrigue and also shows the range of variation present within a given shape category.

2) The arrangement of shapes in an uniform transition of hues across the different shape categories makes the chart look aesthetically pleasing.

3) The bar chart is arranged in a symmetrical manner, where the chart tapers towards the top, again adding to its aesthetic quality.

Things that don’t ❌:

1) The arrangement of the bars for symmetry, intended for aesthetics compromises details and the primary objective of the visualisation - to identify the most used elements or shapes. It does identify the most used shape visually but does not do the same for subsequent. To identify the rankings of shape categories, one has to compare the numbers written at the bottom of the bars. Had it been arranged in increasing or decreasing order of occurrence, it would be easier to identify the same visually.

2) The size of the elements in the chart is retained as present in the flags, probably for consistency or ease, but this creates wrong bars and a misleading visual representation of the data. For example, in the chart, the no.of. occurrence for ‘equilateral triangles’ is 46 and for ‘right + scalene triangles’ is 37, however the bar for ‘right + scalene triangles’ is visually higher than that of ‘equilateral triangles’.

Concluding comment: The visualisation is unique and does offer some interesting insights, but it could be improved for comprehension and accuracy, over aesthetics. For eg. The y-axis and the height of the bars could have been scaled and mathematically accurate, rather than focusing on the true representation of the individual shape and size of the elements.

[hayat-tamboli]

Hayat Tamboli - 23M2249

The Biggest Tech Company Layoffs Around the World Since 2020 - neomamstudios

Short critique

1. A company like Google headquartered in America, could have laid off a large number of employees from India or elsewhere and not from America, but this infographics might mislead the reader.
2. Since the stacked boxes are not aligned properly, comparing their heights is a difficult task.
3. The 3D stacked boxes might also cause Ponzo Illusion.
4. They could have used different colors over countries to represent the intensity of layoffs from a country.
5. They could have used different styles of boxes to represent larger numbers, such as a black box or a darker brown box to represent 500 employees laid off, etc
6. Countries like Russia, Canada take up huge spaces on map and becomes a source of white space
7. European countries need much space to show their data, Magnifying those places is good solution, but it makes the user's eye travel more, cartograms might help
8. The bottom bar graph doesn’t have a y-axis, making it harder to estimate the actual numbers from just that graph
9. Each company is very well annotated ( with number of layoff, year and wordmark)

[aakankshasinghhh]

Aakanksha Singh 22B3621

Out of Your Hands

Physical Characteristics: Increasing or Decreasing the risk of certain ailments

information is beautiful

The infographic "Out of Your Hands" explores how certain physical characteristics can influence the risk of developing various health conditions. It categorizes these characteristics by sex and descent and visually represents the increased or decreased risks associated with each factor.

The infographic effectively conveys the concept that various physical characteristics can influence the risk of certain ailments.

Strengths:

1. The infographic presents information in a concise and easy-to-understand manner.
2. Using a human body diagram as the central visual element effectively illustrates the relationship between physical characteristics and health risks.
3. The infographic is organised into sections (by sex and by descent), making comparing and contrasting information easier.

Weaknesses:

1. Here, they have used red to signify increasing health risks and blue to show decreasing health risks. Instead of blue, green could have been used as green is usually used to represent safety and improvements.
2. While the infographic mentions general categories of ailments (e.g., heart disease, cancer, diabetes), providing specific examples of diseases associated with each physical characteristic would be more informative.
3. The infographic doesn't provide any quantitative data to support the claims about increased or decreased risks. This could make the information seem less credible.
4. Some of the terms used like "hypertension" and "atherosclerosis" might be unfamiliar to a general audience. Providing definitions or explanations could improve accessibility.

Improvements:

1. Adding more detailed information about the specific diseases associated with each physical characteristic.
2. Incorporating statistics or research findings to support the claims about increased or decreased risks.
3. Using simpler language or providing definitions for complex terms.
4. Consider adding interactive elements, such as clickable links or tooltips, to provide additional information or context.
5. Ensuring the infographic is accessible to people with disabilities by following accessibility guidelines.

[kimayaitkarkar]

Kimaya Itkarkar 22B3635

The Basics of Early Childhood Development By Eleanor Lutz for Nerdcore Medical Source: [Leveling up https://tabletopwhale.com/2016/12/14/leveling-up.html ‘The basics of early childhood development’ is an infographic which visually represents important developmental milestones in early childhood, catergorized into different domains like cognitive, motor and social skills. The timeline shows the age at which each milestone typically occurs, color-coded by the developmental domain.

Strengths of this data visualisation:

1. There is a clear colour coding system. The different developmental categories ( cognitive, motor and social) are color- coded, which makes it easy to differentiate between them.
2. The uses of a timeline structure effectively shows the progression of milestones over months, which helps viewers understand when each milestone typically occurs.
3. The chart is comprehensive; It combines multiple developmental domains (motor, social, cognitive) into one chart, offering a holistic view.
4. There is minimal text; brief milestone descriptions help in keeping the content concise and prevent informative and cognitive overload.
5. The background gradients gives a subtle sense of ongoing development, which shows a smooth transition over time.

Weaknesses of this data visualisation:

1. Especially in the 6-24 month range, there is overcrowding, too many milestones are packed closely together. It makes it visually overwhelming
2. In the milestones, there is no hierarchical emphasis. All of them appear equally important, which lacks to visually cue to highlight critical milestones.
3. Some milestones have icons, but others rely only on text, leading to inconsistency.
4. The stacked layers for different skill areas make it hard to track specific categories of development.
5. The blending of colors between categories creates difficulty in distinguishing between them
6. Viewers have to mentally calculate months to understand a child's age.
7. The middle area of the timeline is cluttered with too many overlapping milestones and lines
8. The text is hard to read where many milestones are close together
9. There’s no emphasis (maybe a larger font or icons) for significant milestones like walking or talking.
10. There are not enough icons or symbols to translate some parts of the text, it is very text heavy
11. Some of the terms could have been more simplified. There is extensive use of specific developmental terms, some viewers might feel overwhelmed
12. The chart extends through early childhood but doesn't provide a clear conclusion or summary, leaving the progression of development open-ended
13. The chart lacks comparative benchmarks ( maybe averages/ late or early milestones) that could provide users with a clearer understanding

[yashkaranjavkar]

Yash Karanjavkar - 23M2250

Data Visualization on Indian Art

Data Visualization on Indian Art

Effectiveness:

• This visualization portrays the diverse art forms across Indian states, achieving its goal of illustrating the variety and geographical spread of Indian art.
• The combination of colors and icons makes it easy to distinguish between the states and their respective art forms, making the visualization both informative and visually engaging.

What works well:

• The use of color coding to represent different states and hexagonal shapes to represent particular art forms works effectively to differentiate between the data.
• The centralized map provides a clear visual reference, allowing users to quickly identify the location of various art forms in relation to the states they originate from.
• The connective lines between states and their art forms enhance the flow of information, guiding the viewer’s eye without overwhelming them.
• The incorporation of circular clusters for each state’s art gives a sense of artistic diversity while maintaining an organized structure.

What doesn’t work:

• While the visualization aims to present the rich diversity of Indian art across states, it struggles to balance clarity with complexity. The intricate web of connections between states and art forms, though aesthetically pleasing, sacrifices readability for visual appeal. The density of the design overwhelms the viewer, especially for a non-specialist audience who may find it hard to extract actionable or meaningful insights.
• The sheer number of elements competing for attention dilutes the effectiveness of the communication, leaving the viewer with a sense of disorientation rather than clarity. For instance, the use of dotted lines connecting states to their respective arts feels haphazard, making it difficult to trace which art form belongs to which state at a glance.
• Even, the dots are connected on the border of the states, It will be confused with the geograpfical representation of exact location of that art form.
• Some of the labels are too small or placed far from the objects they represent, making it difficult to immediately identify the information, especially when many elements overlap.

What could be better:

• Font sizing could be adjusted to ensure legibility across the entire map, particularly in regions with dense data points.
• Simplify the connections or divide the information into smaller, more digestible clusters. For example, grouping art forms by region rather than connecting every individual state could help reduce the clutter.
• The addition of interactive features in a digital format could enhance usability, allowing users to zoom in on particular states or art forms for further exploration.
• Introduce a stronger visual hierarchy. Differentiate between major and minor art forms, use thicker or bolder lines for primary connections, and scale down the less significant elements to create focus points.

[Adith3608]

Adith M Sajeev 22B3625

Timelines- Time Travel in popular movies/ Tv shows https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/timelines-time-travel-in-popular-film-and-tv/

Critiques

• Dont know why they used curved line. Colour used can be improved especially the red and pink colour is very difficult to differentiate.
• the size of the font is really small hence readability is hindered
• Difficulty in finding the name of the move, especially the movie “ Sleepers” we need to go through the line to find it out
• there is no specific order for writing the names of the movies/tv shows
• Not all time travel movies/ Tv series are included in the chart are released before 2004, which might make the selection feel incomplete or biased
• The chaotic criss-crossing paths between timelines can make it difficult for the viewer to trace connections without feeling disoriented maybe it represent the complexity of time travel.
• There is quite a bit of unused space at the top of the graphic, whereas the bottom half feels congested.
• This chart is purely made for time travel enthusiast. Others might feel overwhelmed by the complexity presented.

[antibodhi]

Sidharth Goutham K (23M2252)

Ranked: The Best-Selling Video Game Consoles of All Time ( Visual capitalist )

Short critique

• The predominant use of brand-associated colours enhances easy recognition, despite exceptions like SEGA's blue and Atari's red logo.
• There is a noticeable visual clutter, primarily due to the third Y-axis on the chart. The inconsistency in opacities further increases this.
• The use of orange and red tints contributes to readability issues.
• The graph could have incorporated year-wise data to allow for easier comparisons between models released around the same time and competing in the market.
• The inconsistent sizing of areas (representing quantities) along the X-axis (e.g., Atari) leads to confusion and misrepresentation of the data.
• The background graphics are distracting as they overlap with the data, making it harder to interpret the information clearly.
• Using logos in the legend instead of joystick icons—particularly when the icons are not present on the graph—would improve recall and recognition.
• Might be more effective to use the company as the first y axis for improved recognition and recall.

[subirust]

Subir Mondal-22b3604

East before West

What Middle-Eastern thinkers discovered long before the west

East before West

image 1

image 2

image 3

Strengths

• The use of different colors for different field of study helps with easier identification. (image 2)
• When the lines are clicked another infographic pops up which provides with short and clear explanation of discoveries from both sides with other relevant information's. (image 3)
• you can separate out the field of study by clicking the topics in the legend. Can also help color blind people. (image 2)
• It's also mentioned that the dotted lines are questionable information's

Weakness

• All Texts and lines of different colors overlap, creating a cluttered and confusing graphic making it very hard to follow the lines.
• The years and texts are spread out according to the time gap, but this creates lots of patches where texts are cluttered and illegible.
• At first glance it is not apparent that the legends are clickable which are used to separate out the topics and lines.
• The lines are also not easy to click as its very thin and not interactive, also due to the clutter you click the wrong lines if the topics are not filtered out.
• The "End of Islamic Golden Age" line blends in with the other lines causing us to miss out on an important timeline.

Improvements

• The years could be separated into equidistant intervals where we compromise the visual representation of time for a better cognitive experience. (like in train route maps)
• Make the legends seem like clickable buttons
• Make the line interactive and easier to click using hover animations or other methods.
• Make the interconnecting lines less cluttered by using straight lines and angular turns, keeping lines parallel making it easier to follow each line. (like in train route map)
• Proper representation of the "End of Islamic Golden Age" line.

[Yuva306]

This data visualisation attempts to show what the teaching situation is like across the globe. https://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com/showcase/549-what-teachers-think

What works:

• The radar chart effectively highlights the slopes of lines, making it easy to compare adjacent countries. For example, Japan shows a noticeable dip.
• Concentric circles represent what teachers are looking for in their work, allowing for an easy comparison of whether a country's teachers prioritize these aspects above or below average. For instance, teachers in Portugal seek more in their work than average, while Japanese teachers' concerns lie below average.
• The concentric circles mark percentages for both what teachers’ concerns and their age groups, maximizing information in limited space.
• Showing the average directly simplifies identifying what teachers prioritize most and least, which would be challenging without this reference.
• The area of the squares directly reflects the distribution of happy to unhappy teachers in each country, offering clear insights.

What does not work:

• Percentages are shown only for the average and Italy, making it hard to find accurate percentage as navigating along circles is difficult.
• It is difficult to compare countries that are not placed near to each other, as they are arranged in a circle and are not aligned along any side.
• The alphabetical arrangement does not give the user any idea of where the country is geographically located.

What could have been better:

• The countries are placed alphabetically. Instead if they had been placed continent-wise, we could have been able to see the trends in a particular continent.
• It would be more intuitive to place the number of hours a teacher teaches inside the coloured circle, with the lesson planning hours on the outer circle.

Yuva.

[TanmayKuwalekar]

Tanmay Kuwalekar (23M2245)

Presenting my short critique on the following data visualization project.

Title: Seeing How Much We Ate Over the Years

Overview:

This FlowingData project visualizes U.S. food consumption trends from 1970 to 2019, using USDA data. It presents the changes in consumptions across six categories: proteins, vegetables, fruits, dairy, grains, and added fats. The visualizations compares the historical and current consumption patterns, offering insights into dietary changes over time. It is a presented in a linear temporal form.

---

Strengths:

1. The project covers nearly five decades, allowing viewers to observe long-term dietary trends and shifts in U.S. food consumption patterns.
2. Use of distinct colors to easily differentiate between food categories.
3. Colors are associated according to the food item and the category which it is, which help connect the audience to the food item easily.
4. Categorization into food groups.
5. Key shifts are annotated, drawing attention to significant changes like the rise of chicken consumption and the decline of red meat.
6. Annotations makes the narrative more accessible and engaging.
7. Good composition of elements that effectively compares the food items.
8. There's a a narrative behind the visuals. The storytelling aspect of this project help understand the data beyond numbers which makes it more engaging.

   ---

Points to improve:

1. The visualization seems good on larger screens but once shifted to smaller devices can make it seem cluttered and hard to read and understand.
2. The timeline is present at the bottom of the chart. While some charts are long and needs to be scrolled down to be looked as a whole, mentioning g the same timeline above the chart might help.
3. The metric used for the charts needs to be very clear.
4. In some visualizations there is an overlap between food entities which can be avoided at least for the thin lined food items which are at the bottom.
5. The typeface towards the end of the charts are too close and hence not enough legible. Spacing out things in the bottom might help.
6. Annotations though good can be presented in a good composition and the dotted lines that connects the chart and the annotation can be more prominent.
7. Annotations related to specific socio-economic-cultural events in the timeline can be added which will clarify the change in the consumption habit. That might be informative.

[KeSaanu]

Kyawsaanu Mog 22B3609

Earthquakes

Earthquakes

Critiques

• The entire visualization while looks appealing and aesthetically pleasing, on a closer glance it becomes clear that there is a general lack of hierarchy to the information and its difficult to discern any key insights through all of this clutter.
• The lines while serving the purpose of connecting the location of each earthquake with their respective representation on the bottom graph, it also clutters itself up which hinders its own purpose
• Though it is marked in legend, its still difficult to identify at first glance that the Y Axis of the graph represents the depth of respective earthquakes
• There is no uniform scaling on the Y Axis. A 600 Km deep earthquake's line is not more than 10% longer than a 47 Km deep earthquake.
• The sizes of circles which represent the magnitudes of earthquake can be misleading as the Richter Scale is a Logarithmic scale not a linear. For example an earthquake of 8.4 Magnitude is approximately 2.5 times bigger in magnitude and approximately 4 times bigger in energy release compared to an earthquake of 8.0 Magnitude. There is a lack of communication of such information in the infographic

• While the use of gradients in the legends creates a visually appealing infographic, it can sometimes make it challenging to accurately match circles to their corresponding tectonic plates. The colours used are also quite similar which can be confusing to identify earthquakes from different tectonic plates
• The use of colors to differentiate between tectonic plates is ambitious, but with so many plates and corresponding colors, the visual impact is confusing rather than clarifying. The legend is crammed with tiny color codes that are nearly impossible to match accurately to the lines without a lot of effort.
• The visualization could have included some other information such as population density to show how many people live close to danger(though that might add further to the clutter and complexity)

[prjwl-k]

Prajwal Kulkarni 23M2247

Journey Of Indian Unicorns

The infographic is very well detailed, It successfully charts the growth of Indian unicorns, providing a clear timeline and highlighting key milestones in their journeys. The combination of visual and textual elements helps convey information effectively, I liked the way designer clubbed related info for example the data about total funding and the investor is near to each other.

Areas for Improvement _1. The colors in the Total Funding and Valuation sections could be more distinct.

2. The contrast in the company names needs to be improved for better readability.
3. Valuation indicators are hard to follow, especially since similar colors are used for $1B and $10B, which can cause confusion & we have to count manually in current design.
4. The listing info for companies could be clarified, as it's misleading to show the same year for becoming a unicorn and stock exchange listing (e.g., Nykaa listed in 2021 but shown for 2020).
5. The information about acquisitions by companies could be presented in a better way. Instead of just showing the total number of acquisitions, it can also display the specific year when each acquisition took place for better clarity._

[des-gaurav]

Gaurav Bisht 22b3605

Emails: Not Dead, Evolving (Harvard Business Review, June 2013 by Bonnie Scranton)

About the visualization: The infographic is based on a survey by Barry Gill, contradicting the notion that E-mail as a form of communication is dying out. It turns out, E-mails are still prevalent and corporate employees still spend half of their working hours on them. The graphic appears to be a waffle chart, showing the distribution of types of mails in the In-box. Email's infographic on Bonnie Scranton's website

Strengths:

• consistent aesthetic to the visualization.
• the amount of spam vs useful emails is clearly visible at a glance.
• effectiveness as well as satisfaction has been visualized.
• A thumbnail of the larger data is provided adjacent to other similar data, which gives a continuous flow.
• colour coding for time spent using E-mails is clear and legible.
• Visualizing emails by their purpose gives a sense of E-mails' direction.

room for improvement (marked on the infographic):

1. Stacked bar charts: to convey distribution of devices, stacked bar chart has been used but it is hard to distinguish and accurately compare the lower numbered devices.
2. Percentage instead of Hours: a percentage of the working hours has been displayed. Also, displaying the average working hours spent on/off emails would have been quite useful.
3. Unconventional Coloring: Satisfaction as well as dissatisfaction have been displayed using Red-Yellow colors. This is not aligned with the usual depictions of these emotions.
4. Intrusive Labels: the placement of the labels on the waffle chart interrupts the visualization and introduces unnecessary breaks in the visual information.
5. Hard to distinguish categories: Color coding for the spam emails’ category does not provide enough contrast or range for the number of data presented.

[AnkitaThakur1309]

Ankita Thakur (23M2246)

Which is the best-performing Marvel Movie?

The visualization titled "Which is the Best-Performing Marvel Movie?" on Information is Beautiful compares the box office performance of Marvel movies based on several key metrics: Box Office Revenue, Budget vs. Revenue, Audience Scores, Critical Scores, and Timeline and Trends. The infographic uses engaging visuals to convey these data points, allowing users to quickly see which Marvel movies were the most successful in different aspects, such as revenue, critical reception, or fan approval. It provides a holistic view of how each movie has performed from various perspectives.

Link to the Map

Short critique

Strengths

1. Offers a thorough look at Marvel movies with data on box office, critics, and audience scores.
2. Interactive design with colors and microinteractive icons makes the information fun to explore.
3. Uses varied data (box office, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes) for a well-rounded view.

Weaknesses

1. The context of the map is fun, but instead, the map does not bring out the creativity and visuals that would anywhere represent Marvel Movies
2. It Feels cluttered and overwhelming with all the data packed into one place, as few of the movies overlap, obstructing reading another name; also, the icons (circles) and names overlap, so it is difficult to click and view.
3. The color choice for each movie does not match the actual world colors associated, nor the icon (circles are the right choice
4. It needs to fully highlight how the movies have evolved or changed in popularity as all the movies, whether they did good or bad, are all kept the same at the visual hierarchy level.
5. There is a significant dependency on text for the data to be explained, but it may be tough to read and use on mobile devices due to the dense content.
6. In some places, the names of the movies are covered by the years and data such that one can not read the names easily.
7. Even the pop-up to explain the data has a lot of data for the user to read and analyze, which can be overwhelming.

Simplifications

1. Include brief notes or pop-ups to explain critical trends or changes in performance.
2. Use visual hierarchy to represent which movie did well and why.
3. Movie characters could replace the proper use of colors and icons.
4. Adjust the design to be more mobile-friendly with fewer details on smaller screens like the text size or too much text to read.
5. Avoid overlapping of content such that it does not lead to readability issues.

[rudhsy]

Anirudh A 22b3630

"The Light We Switch On" by Prodigioso Volcán ( Rafael Höhr ) - World Government Summit

(https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/58f5bdd4-53ac-4374-9118-7c5e948a3ef7/WDVP_The_light_we_switch_on_03.png)

Stark black and white imagery shines a light on electricity and energy consumption and production across the world in a intriguing unfolding journey.

The visualization aims to narrate a journey through time, focusing on global electricity generation trends and the future of sustainable energy practices. It uses a timeline-based format, progressing from past to future ("Past: the seeds we planted," "Present: the plants that germinate," and "Future: the harvest we will reap").

Strengths

• The visual uses a horizontal timeline, helping the viewer follow the narrative from left to right, through decades.
• The visualization is divided into phases of electricity and energy innovation, making it easy to identify which data belongs to which period.
• The circular icons with images for each future trend (like smart sustainable energy, climate engineering, etc.) give a sense of individual milestones and future projections, which adds a dynamic and storytelling aspect.
• Each segment (past, present, and future) is distinct, with related data clustered together, enhancing readability.

Weaknesses

• The what worries artificial intelligence bubble graph is not having any order, making it difficult to compare and rank.
• Some charts like Google Buzz goes invisible in the visual complexity.
• Different units are used for the same measurements. For eg, total energy production is provided in BTU(British Thermal Units) whereas global electricity generation is given in TWh.
• The small font size and color scheme (white text on a black background) may strain the eyes, particularly with densely packed information. The stark contrast might make it harder to engage with the content for long periods.
• Some of the charts, particularly on share of electricity from renewable generation, are presented in a format that is difficult to interpret without further explanation or interaction.
• The flow between past, present, and future is somewhat interrupted due to the varied layout of visual elements (graphs, charts, and text blocks).

What Can be improved

• The countries could have been depicted with their flags, so that it could be easy to find and compare countries.
• Consider breaking down complex charts into simpler, more digestible graphics. Interactive elements could help users to dig down into specific details.
• Larger fonts and better contrast in certain areas would improve readability, especially for a broad audience.
• The white and black colour theme is aesthetic but needs more visual hierarchy to avoid overwhelming the viewer.
• The infographic seems to pack a lot of information into a small space. Some of the visual elements could be spaced out more to avoid overwhelming the viewer with data at a glance.

[TejalK22]

Tejal Kalgutkar 24M2525

Countries with the Highest Obesity Rates

Source

Critique

• The use of 15 separate pie charts complicates comparisons between countries. A more efficient chart type, like a bar chart or heatmap, would facilitate clearer and more direct comparisons of obesity rates.

• Pie charts are not ideal for showcasing small percentage differences across multiple countries. They make it difficult to see trends or rankings at a glance, especially since the dataset only ranges from 72% to 42%.

• The gradient (red) intended to add hierarchy doesn’t achieve its goal. Since the pie charts are separate, the gradient fails to enhance readability or provide meaningful visual differentiation between the data points.

• The location pins (1-6, 8-10) overlap, taking up excessive space and obscuring parts of the map that could have helped identify and distinguish the countries better. This overlap creates visual clutter and makes the map harder to comprehend, making it difficult to match pie charts with specific countries. This lack of clarity reduces the map’s effectiveness as a geographic tool.

• By separating pie charts from their geographic locations, the visualization misses an opportunity to highlight regional patterns or trends in obesity rates more intuitively.

• The combination of numerous pie charts and a cluttered map design creates visual confusion, making it challenging for viewers to extract insights efficiently.

• A simpler geographic representation, such as a choropleth map, would be more effective in conveying obesity rates relative to location. It would provide a clearer, more intuitive understanding of regional variations in obesity.

[HarshAgrawal04]

Harsh Agrawal 22b3629

India is not that happy

Critique

• This infographic only shows that India is in the 126th position on the World Happiness Index. The intensity of the data is only being conveyed through the number 126 and not visually, which limits its impact.
• An unnecessary zigzag pattern is used for the representation, with countries' rankings written on either side, making it difficult to comprehend the data clearly.
• The selection of countries shown on the infographic seems arbitrary, only few nations are represented which can change the viewer's perception.
• The positioning of the countries is not to scale, making it difficult to compare their rankings effectively and reducing the overall impact of the data. If all countries were represented and India's 126th position was shown within that full context, the visual intensity and insightfulness would be much stronger.
• Colour coding is not used for showing the contrast in data.
• This infographic only presents the rankings without providing any details or comparisons regarding the actual World Happiness scores, limiting the depth of information and understanding.
• The infographic lacks details on the reasons and factors behind these rankings, which are provided in the original report.
• If the data had been visually represented geographically, it would've enabled us to further analyze the data based on regions.
• The exact same format was used to depict data last year's happiness index, indicating that The Indian Express hasn't made any effort to improve. (link)

[evana23m2242]

Oil Production by Country in 2022

The raw data shows oil production by country, contributing to the global total. Countries are grouped by region, with an additional oil-and-gas grouping indicated by the colored borders around each country's flag, as explained in the legend beneath the title.

• The barrel layout creates space on three sides for labels and annotations, which is a strength of this chart design. But it's cons outweigh. While aesthetically appealing, the pictogram does not contribute to clarity, causing visual clutter and making it harder to read the numbers. The 3D effect distorts data visually and doesn't add anything.

• This chart tries to represent countries on a non-geographical map, which distorts geographical realities. It creates confusion, as viewers expect certain spatial relations that are absent here. This makes the comparison between countries difficult and not natural.

• The chart provides little insight into the data. Odd-shaped polygons make size comparison difficult, and while top producers like the U.S., Russia, and Saudi Arabia stand out, a bar chart or table would present the data more effectively.

• The regions aren't labeled, assuming readers know where countries like Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are located. It also expects familiarity with flags, especially for smaller countries, where only flags are shown without names and acronyms (e.g., AGO, COG).

• The chart lacks any kind of axis or scale to visually compare the sizes of the data points. Without a standard unit of measure, it becomes very difficult to understand how the numbers of one country relate to another in a quantitative sense.

• The chart assumes readers understand the significance of OPEC and OPEC+, which are secondary and indicated only by the color around the flag icons.

• Variation in font sizes, labels, and acronyms adds inconsistency across countries.

• Like individual countries, regions are represented by arbitrary-shaped polygons, making it difficult to compare production values. This likely explains the additional chart at the bottom for regional comparison.

• The OPEC/OPEC+ grouping is even more confusing. Readers must find flags with specific-colored edges, mentally piece together the irregular polygons, and adjust their shapes to compare areas, making it a challenging task.

[Khushboo768]

Khushboo Kumari 23M2251

"The Race to Save Lives: Comparing Vaccine Development Timelines"

The visual titled "The Race to Save Lives: Comparing Vaccine Development Timelines" aims to depict the development timeline of vaccines for different pandemics, from the Spanish Flu of 1917-1942 to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (as of 2020). It uses a combination of timeline bars, bubble sizes representing the number of deaths, and contextual information on the right to highlight the various stages of vaccine development. The red bubbles increase in size based on the number of deaths, and a timeline compares how long it took to develop vaccines for each outbreak

Strengths:

1. The use of a timeline to compare multiple pandemics' vaccine development times is visually showing the variation in how long different vaccines have taken to develop.
2. 3. It efficiently highlights the stark difference in how quickly vaccines were developed for COVID-19 compared to historical diseases like AIDS and Ebola, showing advancements in vaccine technology.
3. The use of bubble sizes to show the number of deaths is a strong visual cue, helping viewers grasp the severity of each pandemic at a glance.

Suggested Improvements:

1. While the size of the bubbles represents total deaths and have a visual impact, they shift focus from the main objective of the visualization i.e. the timeline for development of vaccines. and cause confusion.
2. Better integration of the deaths and the timeline would be preferred for richer understanding and correlation.
3. The gradient of the red color used, while brings distinction between different pandemics, it looses visual clarity till the time it reaches COVID-19 and causes readability issues.
4. Some Vaccines like ebola and mers loose visibility due to their small bubbles and need a better and clearer distinction
5. Current outbreaks like AIDS and COVID-19 are labeled as ongoing but could benefit from stronger visual distinction, such as color differences, to signify that these pandemics are not resolved yet. This could help separate completed events from current ones more distinctly.
6. The description of vaccine development phases (exploratory stage to manufacturing) is presented textually but could be integrated visually into the timeline itself. Overlaying these phases on the timeline for each pandemic would provide a richer, more integrated understanding.

[zohamid]

Zoha Hamid (23M2241)

Her Deadly Plots, Plotted

src By Bloomberg Businessweek

Context: "MAJOR SPOILER ALERT for every single one of Agatha Christie's 58 murder mystery novels. The man did it, the young person did it, the family member did it. They did it with poison and they did it for inheritance. Acquaintances kill for revenge, strangers kill to protect their own identity, co-workers use guns and the middle-aged are the most likely to strike you down with an object. Or at least that seems to be the... statistical takeaway. But find and trace any novel's murderer through their characteristics, methods and motives. Why spend time reading a book?" (^ As taken from the website) This is the promise of this visualisation, yet as an Agatha fan, I can't entirely agree. Here is a short critique (first look):

• It is too complex and visually tiring
• The number of colours used is overwhelming, I am not able to follow the lines, I get the gist of it but am not able to generate new insights, and I keep losing track of the paths
• The colour encoding could be done for the categories instead of the network lines
• The purpose of the infographic is to find overlapping themes and similarities, there can be other ways of visualizing the same, which would potentially lead us to form new meaning

The strengths along weaknesses are listed below (in-depth):

1. Complex data organization: It attempts organizes complex data, detailing multiple dimensions: the murderer’s profession, their relationship to the victim, their method of killing, and their motive - it succeeds in capturing the multiple variables in Christie's mystery novels. It provides some way into gathering a layered understanding of recurring themes, e.g., the common motives such as inheritance or money, which appear in prominent colours like pink and red. Through this, it encourages exploration of the relationships between these elements - inviting readers to spend time exploring. For Christie fans (people who would have already read the books), it presents an added level of interactivity and engagement, linking elements across plots in an easily digestible way. There are colour-coded lines to help trace each plot across categories as well.

2. But, there are certain issues in the data organization:

   • Line overlap & thus complexity: The large number of overlapping lines, especially in the middle of the chart, creates visual clutter. Following a specific flow from start to end becomes difficult, especially where the lines bunch up. Simplifying or grouping could make the pathways clearer.
   • Text and Labels: While the font size is generally legible, there are areas where the text density feels overwhelming. Some labels, especially in the middle, are hard to associate with specific lines due to the dense overlap. The use of profession categories (e.g., "Actor," "Doctor") is intriguing, but some categories like "No profession" or "Other" are vague and might confuse readers, especially if a large number of plots fall under "Other."
   • Flow confusion: The diagram doesn’t follow a strict left-to-right or top-to-bottom flow. For some users, it might not be immediately intuitive to understand how one element connects to another. For example, readers must scan both horizontally and vertically, which can disrupt the process of following a narrative.
   • Visual hierarchy: There is a slight lack of visual hierarchy. The boldness and placement of categories could be improved to guide users more clearly. The motives at the far right, such as inheritance and revenge, could be more prominent, helping readers understand the larger themes of Christie’s works.

Some other improvements/suggestions:

• Reduce Clutter: Group certain plot paths where appropriate, or break the visualization into smaller, linked sections.
• Add Legends and Icons: A legend explaining the colour coding and line styles could make the chart easier to read, especially for new users. We could introduce double encoding to lessen the number of colours used.
• Encoding of categories could be done in novel ways - use shape and texture in addition to just colour.
• Incorporate quantitative elements: Include proportions or percentages to clarify how frequently certain themes occur across Christie's novels. While this visualization organizes qualitative data well, it could be enhanced by including some quantitative insight, e.g., how frequently certain professions, motives, or methods occur. Adding proportional line thickness or icons could indicate frequency.

Overall, I liked the theme and the concept. It is very a creative and detailed visualization that caters to enthusiasts of Agatha Christie’s works which could be simplified in places to improve usability.

[Bairipawan]

Pawan Kumar 23m2253

Things that works for me

• Clear usage of color code to differentiate between lower altitude to higher altitude.
• Clear annotations and visually appealing map of Mediterranean sea
• Clear annotation of latitude longitude, Wonder, Approximate present-day Location and Build Year, and also placement is visible fairly.

Things that hard to understand

• In Map - Shows the location of Garden of Babylon? As it is mention below the exact location is still unknown.
• The space lines are not clearly visible for the all locations and their information.
• The given information in the three boxes making confusion, as its also overlap the grey, blue color areas.
• If the written information shows the Gardens of Babylon’s exact location is still unknown then how can it shows in the map with the latitude and longitude
• Colors creating confusion here.
• Great Pyramid info- If x-axis is showing the age then would not be confusing to show the height on the y-axis?
• Why green color to represent the Great Pyramid of Giza, why not the picture of it?

[PriyamKumarDeka]

Edit: link for high quality image: https://www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/futureevents_giorgialupi_large.jpg

This infographic presents a timeline of future events based on predictions from various science fiction works.

What works: This infographic gives viewers a broad scope of how authors from different eras envisioned the future. The infographic is organized with layers of data. The structure is organized with layers of data and divided quite reasonably, I’d say it will be quite convenient for someone who is looking for a certain type of content like for example they’re looking for futures of a certain topology or looking for books of a certain era, the ones with positive outcomes, looking only for short stories, etc. Including a legend explaining how to interpret the chart helps guide readers through what might otherwise be a very complex graphic. The information presented is vast. Someone with geeky tendencies would love to read through this for hours.

What does not work: Many predictions overlap on the timeline, especially in areas where multiple works cover similar time periods. Small fonts and close proximity of elements lead to visual clutter, making it difficult to scan or follow. This reduces the infographic's accessibility for casual readers or those looking for a quick overview. It is hard to read author’s age by the given notation. It could be written next to the author, saving space for other elements. The data is very dense around the horizontal timeline. The infographic could benefit from grouping predictions thematically, either by genre, key concerns or visionary trends across decades. I dislike the choice of colours for denoting the type of impact. Should have used anything but red for denoting positive impact. The type of book colour can be used as font colour for the book title, instead of making a blob near the horizontal timeline.

[Anumeha7]

Anumeha Patoria_23m2244 The 50 Most Visited Websites in the World, 2021 Visualcapitalist

1. While the circles represent the number of visitors, it is difficult to precisely compare between mid-tier websites because the differences in circle sizes are not always visually proportional to the actual differences in traffic. For example, the difference between 6.6 billion and 6.1 billion visitors is not immediately clear from the visualization.
2. Colour separation?
currently it seems to be as per some large parent organizations, rest of them are greyed out. Some websites like Facebook and Twitter are in blue, which is often associated with social networks, but others like Amazon (orange) and Netflix (black) don't follow any consistent color theme related to them. 3.It could have been done using the “breakdown by categories” section and a more consistent color scheme tied to categories (social media, e-com, news etc.) could have made the visualization more intuitive.

3. Currently its unclear which websites fall under which category.
4. Radial arrangement, does not tell anything about the data and adds unnecessary complexity to the visual hierarchy.
5. Since it is top 50, it gets hard to follow a hierarchy in this mapping.

The Most & Least Competitive Job Markets in the World, 2024 Neomamstudios

1. The mountain-like visuals with figures climbing them are distracting. They don't add any real value and clutter the chart. These graphics take up too much space and make it harder for users to focus on the actual data, which should be the primary focus.
2. Why are there humans climbing? and what does the number of humans climbing represent? There’s no direct relationship between the number of climbers and the data being presented, which introduces ambiguity.
3. The second chart is distorted due to the chosen representation. Since the data values are already small, the use of this visual with no significant height difference between the bars makes it difficult to see the variances between them. Expanding the chart vertically would allow viewers to see the relative differences more clearly.
4. While the two colors (purple for the most competitive and green for the least competitive) are used consistently, they are not as intuitively contrasting as they could be, which might cause confusion.

[Sydney1306]

Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/toshiya.kijima6210/viz/AccessToInternetintheWorld/viz Name: Nitya Vyas, 23M2248

Title: Access To Internet in the World by Toshiya Kijima

Data Encoded in this graph:

• Internet Access Rate by Country on line charts
• Internet Access Rate by Region on bars
• GDP & Internet Access Rate on scatterplots (where colour is used to denote rate)

What is working:

• Layout is clean and clear
• There are no confusing graphics or overly stylised depictions of data
• 'How to read' provided for each region makes the messaging and requirements clear
• Short descriptions of 'why' accompany the data

What can be better:

• Main graph (Internet Access Rate by Country) does not make it clear that the access rate is for 2010 to 2020 (even though it's mentioned in the other graphs). This may confuse the reader about what the movement of the line chart is for - the temporal encoding can be better
• Legend for the colour heatmap is not provided
• A Graph or guidelines for the internet access rate by region is not present, due to which it's not explicitly clear that the level difference in the region is depicting data and not a purely aesthetic choice
• Legibility is low, contrast is contributing to that
• The scatterplot includes data from MULTIPLE years together, could it be visualised separately? perhaps then better comparisons can be made across years. As of now, does putting it together change how we view the data?

[namit900]

Namit Tirkey (23M2256)

Context: The following visualization shows the data for student loan applications spanning from 2016 to 2023 to uncover trends in college major popularity. The study has used data of 121,862 undergraduates which reveals which majors have seen a rise in applications, which have declined, and which are no longer as popular.

What works?:

• The chart is apt in displaying trends, showing which majors are gaining or losing popularity over time. It uses streamlined graph allowing for visual comparison across different fields of study.

• This nature of visualization makes it easy to trace the popularity of each major with corresponding colors and ranks, which change dynamically over the years.

• It does good in representing a large amount of data in a way that is relatively easy to follow, specially when the complexity of tracking 25 different subjects can be difficult.

• The use of percentage changes provides an additional informative insight.

What doesn't work?:

• The use of several non-symmetric overlapping of lines can create areas where data is hard to follow or distinguish, specially when similar colors or densely packed sections are present in the chart.

• The separation of 'Mechanical Engineering' and 'Aerospace Engineering' from the collective field of 'Engineering' feels unnecessary.

• Similar issues with the field of Nursing and Computer Science vs Computer Information Tech, which can create confusion with the lack of appropriate explanation.

• The chart is named 'How have the top 25 most popular college majors changed over time' but the data is focused on students who applied for loans which may not represent the full spectrum of college students.

• The text and numbers at the bottom of the chart can be too small for some people to read.

• An eight-year timescale which is like a two batch time-frame seems too short to develop significant trends.

Some possible recommendations:

• Standardization of how majors are categorized, possibly with the use of a universally accepted classification system.

• The visualization can be supported with information about changes in the education sector, economic trends, or job market shifts

• Expansion of the time frame to cover longer periods to better identify enduring trends.

[Prateekpal41366]

The Human Cost of War The human death tolls from wars are visualized using a beautiful illustration of poppy flowers

https://www.poppyfield.org/

What's Good

• The concept of using the poppy flower as the visualization element is beautiful
• The contrast between each war is very easy to understand
• User can select the continent and the timeline in the data viz
• The visualization offers an excellent broad perspective on the entire timeline

What's Bad

• There is no information available for the actual number of deaths, just the comparison in the infographic
• The information on both axes is not clearly displayed
• The flower representation shows bias, as the two bigger flowers are distinct from the smaller ones
• The overlapping flower stems make it challenging to identify the precise start and end years of each war

[Risn7]

URL-https://www.smartbugmedia.com/hs-fs/hubfs/8.png?width=2000&name=8.png Bridge Over Troubled Waters – Global Generosity Index Visualization

What works well: 3D Design: The 3D blocks used to show each country's generosity make it fun to look at and compare. It gives an easy way to see how countries are doing in donating money, helping others, and volunteering. Clear Color Coding: The colors (blue for donations, yellow for helping strangers, green for volunteering) help people know what each part means without needing to read too much. The icons also help explain what’s going on. Storytelling: There’s a good explanation on the left side that tells you the big ideas, like why rich countries don’t always give the most. This helps viewers understand the message of the graphic.

What doesn’t work:

Too Much Going On: There are too many 3D blocks, colors, and labels. This can be confusing for people, and it takes time to understand the whole picture. Small Text: Some of the writing is hard to read because it’s too small, especially the labels on the countries and numbers. This makes it difficult for some people to follow along. Color Contrast Issue: The changing font colors make the text hard to read. Some colors blend too much with the background, causing important parts to be ignored. This makes it harder for people to see everything clearly.

What could be better:

Simpler Design: A simpler, 2D version would make it easier to understand the key information quickly. The 3D design looks good but might confuse some viewers. More Focus: Highlighting a few important countries or trends with bolder colors or bigger text could help people focus on the most important details, instead of trying to show everything at once. Similarity: The shapes here are similar in size and closely resemble each other in 3D, such as the pyramids, which show little variability. Color of Text: The color of the text should be changed.

Aman Singh 22b3633

[naman-kk]

22b3622 Naman Khurana

Greeting in France by Bill Rankin

When you greet a friend, how many times do you kiss?

Good: cultural difference in North and South France is clearly visible major cities are labelled which help with the orientation of the map

Bad: five-kisses responses are invisible noise in the data city labels are quite large, shifting focus from the main data every region is marked with multiple hues, making the data overwhelming; granular detail in color variation leads to confusion color choices are problematic for colorblind viewers

Improvements: context about why people in certain regions kiss more or fewer times better to use tiny charts, data clubbed together in one area adding a secondary visual element that shows the overall distribution of responses labelling Corsica would help in better understanding each region could display numerical values to make the map more readable, reducing reliance on color alone Adding numbers to each region would improve readability and reduce reliance on color.

[nachiketnanoty]

Nachiket Nanoty - 23M2236

The graph is from an information visualization web app called “Who is the GOAT?” by Jason J Paul through which users can answer “Who is the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT)” in Formula One. The interface supports quick start default displays with customization and the ability to dive into interesting aspects of comparing different drivers, eras, technology, and more all at once.

Pros: The graph is clean with no confusing graphics. The radial graph suggests the incremental nature of the championship seasons (1977 - 2018). Also goes along with the ‘gauge cluster’ theme of the chart. Interactive nature of the graph allows viewer to focus on a specific driver and his stats.

Cons: No clear representation of rankings in championship Colour coded but not quantitative representation of no. of cylinders in the engine. It is also not necessarily incremental as suggested by the choice of colours. No clear criteria mentioned for uneven division of championship seasons. What is the significance of colour coding some driver names? What does the top part of graph represent?

[pujapdas]

Puja Das M.Des. by Research, 24M2526

Cubism and Abstract Art (1936)

Visualization: Explanatory, Relational Format Flow Chart Data: 7 Names of Artists, 51 Influences, 23 European and Russian Geographic Locations[^1]

Figure 1. Flowchart designed by Alfred H. Barr Jr. for the cover of Cubism and Abstract Art (1936) exhibition catalogue, published by the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Short Critique

In 1936, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), devised a notable flowchart for the museum's exhibition on Cubism and Abstract Art. Figure 1, as seen on the cover of the exhibition catalogue, became a pivotal element in art history. It graphically establishes the historical progression of contemporary art from the 1890s to the 1930s, emphasising the history of abstract art and its influences, such as Fauvism, Neo-Impressionism, Cubism, and Japanese Prints.

What works well?

• The chart's effectiveness is derived from its oversimplification, which facilitates comprehension.
• It adheres to the standard flowchart structure, progressing from the top to the bottom.
• The historical significance of various art styles is effectively reflected in the varied font sizes used.
• Clear hierarchy and emphasis are established by the capitalisation and changes in text case of art styles, names of artists, locations, and dates.
• Colour is utilised to distinguish between external and internal influences[^1], with components such as "Japanese Prints," "Near-Eastern Art," "Negro Sculpture," and "Machine Esthetic" accentuated in red, while "Modern Architecture" is marked in black.
• The usage of the Futura typeface and modern schematic style throughout the chart produces an appealing and novel book (catalogue) cover.

What doesn't work well?

• The simplification, while it facilitates comprehension, results in the omission of numerous important details and the emergence of generalisations.
• Visually distinguishing between the nested flow(s) of information can be challenging due to the scattered arrangement of nodes (art styles and artist names).

• Inconsistencies exist in the use of visual properties as "Suprematism" is the only exception to the rule that most significant nodes have a half parentheses-like symbol below the names.
• Pattern violations are not necessarily meaningful, as evidenced by the forms, trajectories, and arcs of the arrows leading the flow of information.
• The purpose of dotted arrows, which are used only twice, is unclear.

• The initially presented bracketing of "(Abstract)" for "Expressionism," "Dadaism," and "Surrealism" is unclear. The nodes could have been nested or grouped for greater comprehension.
• Despite the fact that colour is utilised to distinguish influences, the limited duo-tone palette and the absence of more distinct and accessible colour values impede category differentiation.
• The chart presents information in a linear, uni-directional flow, disregarding the intricate, multi-directional influences between artistic developments[^1].
• The chart does not provide any additional information regarding the relationships between and among the nodes.
• Although the vertical axis appears to depict time, the chart fails to establish a well-defined hierarchy or sense of progression.
• The importance of horizontal positioning in relation to external influences (red rectangular box nodes) is not entirely evident.
• The data presented lacks evidential support or references.

What could be better?

The chart could be improved by the cautious organisation of nodes, the consideration of multi-directional influences, and the provision of descriptive terms[^1] and/or evidence to characterise the relationship between and among the nodes. Consistency and clarity in defining visual properties, in addition to a broader colour palette, would improve readability.

[^1]: Edward R. Tufte. 2010. Beautiful Evidence (3rd printing ed.). Graphics Press LLC, Cheshire, Conn.

[ArjunC-1]

Arjun Chawla 22B3624

Paris Olympics Medal Table Link to original file: https://www.behance.net/gallery/205667293/Paris-2024-Medal-Table

The left column has a list of all the sports played in the Olympics, the middle column the countries and the right column has the kinds of medals (bronze, gold, silver).

Critiques: (+) The visualisation is useful to give rough idea of where each country lies in terms of winning medals (i.e. where they rank), as well as which sports were dominated by which country. Even though the source data is quantitative, the viewer is not given any numbers.

(-) The top and bottom of the diagram are considerably more legible than the middle, where, especially on the left side, the visual clutter is extremely high. This makes actually following the path of any one line near impossible. (-) Since there is a large number of sports, the colours assigned are bound to get similar. Also, the lighter colours get completely lost in the sea of multi-coloured lines. (-) The order in which the medals appear is semantically inaccurate, as we expect the order to be gold-silver-bronze, not bronze-gold-silver. (-) The point size of the text is very small and from a distance almost no information is conveyed. It has to be zoomed in a lot to be able to read.

This kind of visualisation does not work well as a static graphic. It would have worked a lot better as an interactive one, where hovering over a country/sport/medal would highlight only the relevant stream, and show how it splits and where it goes.

[manyawww]

Manya Wahi (22b3618)

Nuclear Risk: An Expanding Concern by Giorgia Lupi https://giorgialupi.com/bulletin-of-the-atomic-scientists

Pros:

• The infographic gives a comprehensive and holistic overview of nuclear arms control, from 1940 to the present.

• The progression of events is laid out in a chronological arc, which makes it easy to trace the development of nuclear weapons and treaties over time.

• Key data points such as the peak of nuclear warheads in 1986 and their decline are clearly highlighted, as is the resurgence of nuclear risks due to the dissolution of major treaties.

• North Korea is marked in pink which is contrasting to the other colours used. This highlights the most recent nuclear weapons obtained and testing done.

Cons:

• There is a lot of information packed into one visual. This increases the cognitive load and can be challenging to process at a glance.

• The circular timeline makes it harder for viewers to follow specific trends or events compared to a more linear format. This is because data mapped does not start at the same level, so displacement is difficult to compare.

• A stacked bar chart is shown for Nuclear Testing which makes it difficult to ascertain the actual data for “Russia” and “other countries”.

• Since the infographic touches on so many aspects of nuclear risk, the primary concern- rising nuclear risks due to nuclear modernization- becomes diluted. The more important information is the no. of countries currently in possession of nuclear weapons, and this is represented as mere dots.

• The infographic also does not provide any information regarding what all countries are in possession of weapons. Even though countries are named when adding them to the list, there are random points in the timeline where the number of dots decreases and there is no way of knowing which countries are now off the list.

• Though the graphic covers history well, there might not be enough emphasis on the present-day implications or current nuclear risks. Some viewers may find it difficult to extract the urgency of the nuclear situation today from this historical-focused visual.