Capstone — Week 12
A Physical Visualization Exploration
Pivotal Meetings
In “Week 11,” I gathered some new feedback on my physical heatmap prototype and my exploration of the small multiples. While feedback to date has been very helpful in developing the design solutions, I felt I needed insight from data viz and fine art professionals to elevate the work and help me keep true to the type of work I am developing. I was fortunate to have meetings with someone in each field this week to present my work for their valuable input.
In part, the project is both an exploration of learning to physically visualize data and investigate “how might the data provide a yoga practitioner with more insight into their practice and a better understanding of self.” This seemed to be understood through my presentation and work.
The meetings reinforced that I was moving in the right direction overall. My development of a data language and the use of the heatmap and similar small multiples as a means for the audience to more easily read the visualizations was well received.
Design Evolution of the Small Multiples
Here are a few upgrades to the small multiple designs as a result of the feedback.
- Replace time of day symbols with larger makers, larger shapes with color to be more quickly identifiable.
- For the level of practice, replace the varied color palette that was reading as categorical with a continuous color palette.
- As used with the large heatmap prototype, use a colorblind safe color palette.
- For the legend, place items on the same plane for equal billing.
The above digital mappings show the visual progression of the small multiples with the earliest iteration on the far left. The interaction on the far right is the direction for the final visualization.
Ultimately, this mapping can be used to map other practices as well for a better understanding of self. It can be used to help understand one’s patterns and cultivate new positive habits in other journies, hobbies or passions.
At the end of this week, I was finally feeling on track. From here, the next steps are to plot various months and develop the final physical prototypes.
