Data Visualisation

This paper presents a design study for a novel interactive web-based visualization tool that utilizes a "Complete Streets" model to support urban planners and engineers to design streets in urban areas more effectively. The proposed tool integrates a map and a dashboard view, where streets are analyzed and scored based on their overall completeness through six parameters of service; automobile, public transit, goods vehicles, environment, pedestrians and cyclists. In the map view, planners can assess streets based on their location, type and form and perform comparisons between multiple streets. In the dashboard view, planners can tweak a comprehensive set of instructions within each of the six parameters and view the effects of their changes in real time for both overall completeness and across parameters. Planners can also save versions to revisit and tweak them whenever necessary and may also download their dashboard data in different formats. We proposed that planners will be able to assess the completeness of existing streets in their current state and create multiple street prototypes exploring different scenarios and combinations virtually, instantaneously, minimizing costly pilots and prototypes. Future iterations will also promote collaboration and sharing across dashboards.

This paper presents a design study of the visualization interface to the Myant Skiin Connected Life App (Skiin), a family informatics application which will connect family members, friends, and caregivers, by engaging them together and enabling health and wellness related data sharing and support. It is based on Myant's highly accurate intelligent textiles garments which collect activity and related biomechanical data through knitted sensors on the garment. Our design seeks to deliver a seamless user experience between this complex of technologies through effective data presentation, visualization, and tool tips. One of Skiin's differentiators is the provision of a communication overlay (the Aura) which cues users to view metrics data and engage in dialogue around its meaning. We undertook a comprehensive literature review and examination of related work that included personal informatics, mHealth applications, and family informatics-motivation and social communication, wellness standards for older adults, technology adoption by older adults, effective design, and visualization strategies to support aging individuals, their family, friends, and support team, and issues of privacy. We used iterative prototyping to build and revise the visualization interface. We discuss our visualization methods, detail the resulting Skiin application, our usability testing strategy which combines personas, Talk Aloud and SUS approaches, research outcomes, and next steps.