"That's a total cop-out, either you can explain why no usability testing is required or not. " if I'd taken up either position, I would explain it, I'm not going to do it just because you ask. "Personally I don't drink so I can't see why I would never discover the great truth that has been revealed to your good self." I don't have any truths. Except the truth that I can't spend time discussing on this list something that's off-topic and that would be quicker done face-to-face. That's all the pint reference was about. Not some Blake-style path to enlightenment by excess. Over and out. I'm done here.
________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth Sent: 15 August 2007 10:10 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] more data visualisation links On 15/08/07, Simon Cobb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Kim said: "Useful or Playful? Is the question to ask." I'd argue that useful and playful can be part of the same thing. Certainly nothing ever stuck with me that I didn't enjoy using/ thinking about. Likewise many of the children I used to teach. The trick is to combine the 2. I think there's ways from that set of visualisations to encourage people to make playful and useful interfaces to bbc data/ apps if the API's were available. As I was trying to say, a system that allows the end-user to construct live visualizations of data is a commendable idea, but (almost) by definition this will be impossible for others to use. For example, many people will use red to indicate an error state and green to indicate a OK condition. But you can't use that for everyone as 10% of men are red-green colourblind. If you do some research you will also find out that some people are visually-orientated and respond well to these kinds of representations. But others prefer speech over visual explanations and this kind of thing will exclude those people. Brian said: "I presume you have some substantive evidence that no testing is require then?" That's not what I said, it's just that I'm not personally convinced that his views are as up-to-date as they should be and so cannot perpetuate his status as an untouchable usability expert. But that's best discussed over a pint at some unspecified future backstage event rather than this list. That's a total cop-out, either you can explain why no usability testing is required or not. Personally I don't drink so I can't see why I would never discover the great truth that has been revealed to your good self. Simply being rude about someone is a failure to explain - just an insult rather than a debunking. ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth Sent: 14 August 2007 18:12 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] more data visualisation links I guess this brings us right back to Richard MacDuff's "Anthem" programme which attempted much the same but with music in the first Dirk Gently book (coming soon to Radio 4)... On 14/08/07, Kim Plowright <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: I think the point here is 'does the visualisation of the data adds meaning, or is just pretty to look at?'. Does your visualisation tell people more about the data set than the raw numbers? Is it 'legible'? Does it expose trends and meaning that would otherwise be hidden to all but the most numerate? Does it let someone reach sound conclusions faster, or navigate quicker, or become more accurate? Which is Tufte territory, not Nielsen. http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ Not that there's anything wrong with pretty, but good datavis is about adding layers of meaning, as well as the layers of aesthetics. Its possible to remove the 'data' during the visualisation process and turn it in to a purely aesthetic entertainment experience, too. Some of the Jonathan Harris stuff does this - it's information as spectacle. Fun to look at, not 'wrong' per se, but a terrible way of actually turning data -> information -> knowledge. Useful or Playful? Is the question to ask. > Some of these seem to be of dubious real use. Has anyone put any of them > though Jakob Nielsen-style user testing? - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk <http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/> discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html . Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ -- Please email me back if you need any more help. Brian Butterworth www.ukfree.tv <http://www.ukfree.tv/> -- Please email me back if you need any more help. Brian Butterworth www.ukfree.tv
