Creating a User Friendly Web Visualization of Historical Temperature Data, Using Existing Web Development Tools
Abstract: In today's society, the need to create user-friendly visualizations of raw data is bigger than ever, since the amount of information which need to be understood by various audiences is constantly increasing. With the help of computers and the Internet, it is possible to reach out to the target audiences. Interactive visualizations allow users to explore the data by themselves, and research shows that this is one of the leading ways of presenting data. SMHI currently has a visualization of historical temperature data, which is a static image with many usability issues. This study aims to improve this visualization, and create a user-friendly representation of this data, using existing web development tools. The prototype developed during this project has undergone two iterations of user testing. The research shows that one of the leading web development tools for creating interactive visualizations is the JavaScript library D3, or Data-Driven Documents. The results from the user testing show that the prototype was more user-friendly than SMHI's visualization, because its interactive features and dynamic properties. This study emphasizes the importance of including end-users during the iterative development process, in order to create a user-friendly product.
AT THIS PAGE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE ESSAY. (follow the link to the next page)