TY - JOUR

T1 - Path-based Design Model for Constructing and Exploring Alternative Visualisations

AU - Jackson, James

AU - Ritsos, Panagiotis D.

AU - Butcher, Peter

AU - Roberts, Jonathan C.

N1 - This paper would be highly relevant to data visualisation experts, data scientists, user experience (UX) designers, software engineers, human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers, and information designers. The proposed path-based design model offers a structured approach to creating diverse visual representations of data or concepts, making it a valuable tool for professionals who require systematic and reproducible methods in their work. Data visualisation experts and information designers can utilise the model to generate innovative visual formats beyond traditional charts, enhancing their ability to communicate complex data effectively. Data scientists can benefit from the model’s capability to create varied visualisations, which can aid in the exploratory analysis and presentation of their findings. UX designers and HCI researchers can leverage the model to improve the usability and aesthetic appeal of data visualisations integrated into digital products, such as smartwatches and dashboards. Software engineers and developers can implement the path-based model within their applications to offer end-users customisable and dynamic visual data representations. The model’s gene-based approach allows for easy modifications and incremental changes, facilitating the creation of alternative designs and fostering creativity. Overall, this paper’s methodology can be applied to enhance the design, functionality, and user experience of data visualisations across various domains.

PY - 2024/9/10

Y1 - 2024/9/10

N2 - We present a path-based design model and system for designing and creating visualisations. Our model represents a systematic approach to constructing visual representations of data or concepts following a predefined sequence of steps. The initial step involves outlining the overall appearance of the visualisation by creating a skeleton structure, referred to as a flowpath. Subsequently, we specify objects, visual marks, properties, and appearance, storing them in a gene. Lastly, we map data onto the flowpath, ensuring suitable morphisms. Alternative designs are created by exchanging values in the gene. For example, designs that share similar traits, are created by making small incremental changes to the gene. Our design methodology fosters the generation of diverse creative concepts, space-filling visualisations, and traditional formats like bar charts, circular plots and pie charts. Through our implementation we showcase the model in action. As an example application, we integrate the output visualisations onto a smartwatch and visualisation dashboards. In this article we (1) introduce, define and explain the path model and discuss possibilities for its use, (2) present our implementation, results, and evaluation, and (3) demonstrate and evaluate an application of its use on a mobile watch.

AB - We present a path-based design model and system for designing and creating visualisations. Our model represents a systematic approach to constructing visual representations of data or concepts following a predefined sequence of steps. The initial step involves outlining the overall appearance of the visualisation by creating a skeleton structure, referred to as a flowpath. Subsequently, we specify objects, visual marks, properties, and appearance, storing them in a gene. Lastly, we map data onto the flowpath, ensuring suitable morphisms. Alternative designs are created by exchanging values in the gene. For example, designs that share similar traits, are created by making small incremental changes to the gene. Our design methodology fosters the generation of diverse creative concepts, space-filling visualisations, and traditional formats like bar charts, circular plots and pie charts. Through our implementation we showcase the model in action. As an example application, we integrate the output visualisations onto a smartwatch and visualisation dashboards. In this article we (1) introduce, define and explain the path model and discuss possibilities for its use, (2) present our implementation, results, and evaluation, and (3) demonstrate and evaluate an application of its use on a mobile watch.

KW - Path-based model

KW - Visualisation design

KW - Information visualisation

KW - Scientific Visualisation

KW - alternative visualisations

KW - Visualisation tool

KW - Genii tool

KW - Visualisation model

UR - https://jamesjacko.github.io/genii/

UR - http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12571856

UR - http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12571917

UR - http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12571944

U2 - 10.1109/TVCG.2024.3456323

DO - 10.1109/TVCG.2024.3456323

M3 - Article

JO - IEEE Transactions on visualization and computer graphics

JF - IEEE Transactions on visualization and computer graphics

SN - 1077-2626

ER -