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COMM2501 Assessment Critical Analysis • • • 1 Analysis of “Under the Influence” “Under the Influence” is an interactive online data visualisation of various alcohol statistics, drinking trends, and side effects of consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. The data sets utilised range from geographically grouped alcohol consumption statistics, trend data over a time series ranging from 1960s – 2020 and health effects clustered according to organs. Motive I chose this data visualisation due to its insightful nature and engaging components. Alcohol is a large part of Australian culture, financial institutions culture and university social life, making this a very relevant topic for those in my demographic. My attention was caught by the animated introductory screen and the webpage is incredibly detailed, containing more than 10 different data visualisations. I was especially engaged by their interactive components, featuring a trend estimation exercise and a diagnosis quiz. The dataset utilised also contains very recent and relevant data up to 2020, serving as a great conduit for spreading awareness regarding the consequences of excessive drinking. Assessment 2: Critical Analysis • • • 2 Data Story This webpage has a beautifully woven data story with a distinct linear structure which slowly delves into more complex details and topics. The website is able to connect all five “Components of a Data Story.” (Heeg, R. 2015) The introductory hook immediately provides context and identifies the target audience – those above the drinking age. This draws an explanatory focus by providing the striking statistic of alcohol use disorder. Typography and font were used effectively for emphasis. Subsequently, the webpage takes the user through a journey by first introducing various statistics and trends around the world through visual representations and geographic heat maps. Next, the focus is drawn back on the main idea of the health impacts of alcohol, supplemented by a detailed tree map. The webpage then introduces an infographic containing descriptions of victim’s stories followed by further generic statistics on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). These stories provide an emotional connection to the audience as an effective approach to narrative. Improvements to Flow To improve the flow of the narrative, I would suggest presenting the generic statistics before the victim’s stories to provide additional context behind these stories. Interactivity There was a plethora of interactive elements embedded in the design of the webpage to personalise the story with relatability and understandability. These included the detailed descriptions on hover, the trend prediction exercise, and the AUD quiz. I was more compelled to read more about the case studies after interacting with each component. FIGURE 1 INTRODUCTORY HOOK FIGURE 3 INTERACTIVE QUIZ FIGURE 2 VICTIM CASE STUDIES Assessment 2: Critical Analysis • • • 3 Analytical Methods “Under The Influence” uses a multitude of data visualisations to present their story. This section will examine their insights and shortcomings through the lens of Gestalt principles (Wertheimer, 1923) and William’s Heuristics Analysis (William R., 2018). Global Alcohol Consumption FIGURE 4 TOTAL ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION The introduction into global drinking trends is presented through a bar graph of total alcohol consumption. The comparison to the international average gives clarity to the relative consumption of different countries. Canva’s analysis of colour theory (Canva, 2021) supports how colour intensity is used effectively from dark to light to represent the “overpowering” amount alcohol consumed, Recommendations Since this DV aims to portray impactful statistics to the audience, having a clear context is essential (Sanchez, 2020). The context in this DV could be improved by providing the units in terms of average daily alcohol consumption rather than yearly consumption, to enhance relatability for the audience, as a stakeholder. Geographic Heat Map The next visualisation was an interactive geographic heat map. The additional statistics which appear on hover were detailed and informative. Recommendations Unfortunately, it was difficult to differentiate between the ranges of 10 – 15, which were quite similar in shade, misleading the user through the similarity Gestalt principle (Wertheimer, 1923). This DV could be significantly improved by increasing the range of colours into lighter and deeper shades to create a more effective contrast between different countries. FIGURE 5 GEOGRAPHICAL HEAT MAP ON CONSUMPTION Assessment 2: Critical Analysis • • • 4 Stacked Bar Chart - Ranking of Countries FIGURE 6 RANKING OF COUNTRIES Next, was a stacked bar char of the individuals in a certain drinking category. This was one of the more confusing graphs on the webpage which introduced bias by using the wrong graph type (Mccready, 2020). The use of percentages alongside a stacked bar char resulted in a confusing y-axis with percentages greater than 100. I would suggest separating out the different categories in distinct bar graphs to increase the clarity of this data visualisation. Recommendations The colours for “people who drank last year” and “never drink” were more similar than those “who never drank last year” and “never drank at all”, creating bias by going against conventions. Thus, this DV could be significantly improved by rehauling the colour scheme, with a positive/light colour such as green representing those who rarely drink, and a darker/red colour for those who drink excessively. Furthermore, the x-scale was disorientating, as countries were sorted in no particular order, violating the Gestalt principle of continuity and failing the “Heuristic of Consistency”, H9, (Wertheimer, 1923) when compared to Figure 4. A recommendation for this data visualisation would be to sort the countries in descending/ascending order of their percentages. Finally, the caption text was occluding the legend text which was symptom of usability issues through the “Spatial Organisation Heuristic” (H1). This could be resolved through repositioning the legend. Assessment 2: Critical Analysis • • • 5 Health Impacts from Alcohol Another subsection was the health impact. Unfortunately, this DV does not fulfill the heuristic of “Data Set Reduction” (H4) as there is too much data crowded into one graph with a lack of any mean of filtering. The positioning of bar graphs on each leaf node to accentuate their values are not accompanied by a scale and do not enhance the DV. Recommendations A percentage of deaths may be more appropriate for the scale, as using “number of deaths” deters understanding of their relative threats. This DV could be further simplified by removing effects with null data and grouping by how common the side effect is. Overall Recommendations & Reflection In general, “Under the Influence” was an engaging visual experience with an insightful message on the consequences of excessive drinking. Overall improvements would be to focus on reorganisation the texts and labels for a more seamless reading experience. Furthermore, the revision of scale and a more appropriate choice of colours for all of the visualisations would have aided understanding of the core concepts. In the future, support for mobile accessibility would also be a great addition. In summary, I learnt that the frightening side effects of drinking affect a significant proportion of the population and should not be taken lightly. FIGURE 7 TREE MAP OF HEALTH IMPACTS FIGURE 9 INCOHERENT MOBILE RENDERING OF THE WEBPAGE FIGURE 8 CLOSING TYPOGRAPHY Assessment 2: Critical Analysis