This infographic allows you to compare your height and weight with the heights and weights of the NFL 2015 athletes. It's a fantastic tool if you want to see which men share your body measurements but make far more money than you with them. Oh, and if you're at least 161 lbs., and 5'8". Everyone else? Sorry, this tool is not for you.
If you manage to fall into the elitist body-type bracket, this graph gives you the ability to see how you stack up, but it doesn't tell you how to properly employ that ability. Instead, there is a single title which explains the content, and then a whole array of confusing options with no descriptive, nor any opening introduction to clue the user in. An introduction would have been a welcome addition. What does the bar chart at the top do? How do I properly use the various search options? How do I tell which of these players is single and makes the most money?
If the lack of explanation wasn't complicated enough, all you have to do is turn your gaze to the right of the page and allow your mind to boggle at the vast array of dots.
Dots, everywhere.
The dots on the outskirts have names, the dots on the inside do not. Why? Space issues aside, I couldn't tell you, because it's just not clear. It might have been better to forego the labels altogether, especially as it gives you an option to do so in the search fields which makes the labels (and the option to forego them) seem like unnecessary clutter. An info box pops up with the name and stats when you mouse over it, anyway. The same thing could have been done with the various search fields on the left hand side of the screen, where an info box describing how to use each particular function would have had more impact and been more helpful.
Finally, less is more. Get rid of the dots and the lines and the shades of beige and blue-green, at least at first. Start with a clean slate and give the user the choice to overwhelm themselves with dots. There is an 'All' option so there's no worry that they won't be able to see every single beefy athlete at once if that's what they want to do.
Great job Miss Correct. You hit it on the head. Honestly, why is there a dotted chart. There is no map, because there is no need for one, because the author is describing the size of football players. Did a title for the bubbles without a titles come up when you hovered over with the mouse? I like the last image you posted where you show the original visualization vs. what it should look like. Very nice touch, this gives the readers an idea as to what you're looking for in a visualization.
ReplyDeleteAll those dots!!! It could make a lot of people sick by just look at this map! when you think there is nothing worse than pie charts...
ReplyDeleteThe colour of those dots are not make it any better. The last picture really show the different between good data visualization and bad ones.
Wow, this visualization is quite the mess, isn't it. It's pretty hard to look at for long periods of time (for me, anyway). You really have to look closely in order to interpret what is being put across. I got to agree with Nikki about the last picture. It really puts things in perspective about good and bad data visualization. Good work!
ReplyDeleteThis visualization is actually kind of similar to the one I analyzed in which there were massive dots going on. With messy information like this and the lack of explanation, readers will most likely get lost the moment they open the browser. I agree with you that less is more. If the number of players in the NFL makes it too hard to distinguish between them, use a trendline and get rid of all the dots may be a good option.
ReplyDeleteWow, another sports data analysis, although I love the sports, but it’s still hard for me to find what I want, and the color of the dots are pretty close which make me more harder to look at. Overall, I agree with your point that gets rid of all dots because 1) people only want to see the data that they want, and 2) thousands of dots will confuse most of people. Nice analysis!
ReplyDeleteAll I see are dots! I agree that there should be some sort of introduction text to teach you how to use this particular visualization, as at first glance it isn't quite clear. However, aren't the best visualizations also the ones where you don't need a huge explanation to figure out how to use it? Aside from that, I feel like once you narrow down your search to an individual team the graph becomes much easier to read. I guess this boils down to your point about less being more.
ReplyDeleteExciting and entertaining writing style keeps the reader very engaged throughout. Great assessment of the weaknesses, and detailed recommendations to improve in usability with the addition of an introduction, titles, and the removal of labels. However the visualization worked very effectively when I played with it and I gained all the information I was seeking, easily (8 players with the same weight and 91 the same height). The fancy font used with the title is not very professional. Pictures chosen should have been more zoomed in so the user is not forced to click on them.
ReplyDelete