Homework #3:  Zoomable Visualization Design

The goal of this homework is to creatively design a visualization using zooming and overview.

Software:  Use the KidPad 1.0 software.  KidPad is installed in McBryde 104c, or can be downloaded.  Read the User Guide to learn the buttons and key commands.  For further info, Kidpad is based on the Jazz toolkit for zoomable Java applications. 

Important notes about KidPad:

• KidPad is research software and, hence, not necessarily bug free.  Save your work often, and copy intermediate kidpad files to a backup directory in case files get corrupted.
• You may want to avoid importing large images into your information space, as there have been reports that using large images increases likelihood of crashes, corrupted files, and lost work.
• If the text entry tool does not work, try:  use the java version (1.3) that comes packaged in KidPad, set your screen resolution to match the KidPad resolution (1024x768 or 800x600).

Design:  Use Kidpad to design an interactive zoomable visualization of an information topic of your choice.  Choose a topic that is large and complex enough to make visualization interesting. Be creative. Some example topic ideas are:

• the timeline of your life
• your interactive resumé
• a favorite hobby
• NCAA football.

Your design should include at least 2 different data types as we have been discussing in class:  multi-dimensional, 1D, 2D, or tree-structured. Your design should make good use of information visualization principles, including:

• "overview first" to see major trends at the top level. Apply the overview strategies discussed in class.
• zoom in to drill down into more detailed information.
• use "visual mapping" to visualize quantitative data or other attributes of the information.

Report:  Write a 1-page report that answers:

1. What data types did you include in your visualization?
2. Which overview design strategies ("hammer", "chainsaw", "combine") did you use and how?
3. What visual mappings did you use?
4. How is your design similar and different from a hypertext design with pages and hyperlinks?
5. List 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses of the zooming strategy.

Submit:  Send an email to GTA Beth with subject line "homework3" that contains the following:

• your name and PID
• attach the ".kidpad" file and "-thumbnail.jpg" file of your design.  These files can be found in the "KidPad1.0/saved-files/" folder.  Double check that you are sending the correct files by testing them.

Hardcopy of the report due in class, Monday Oct 13.

Alternate software:

If KidPad does not work for you, use the Hinote application which comes packaged with the Jazz toolkit.  Hinote uses the same zooming concepts as KidPad.  You can download Jazz 1.2 here.  Run the hinote.jar file in the jazz-1.2/build directory ("java -jar hinote.jar").  To enable the "Save" option, you must run it as an application, not as an applet on a web page.

Important tip:  This software is not bug free, save your work often and make backup copies in case files get corrupted. You may want to avoid importing images into your information space, as there have been reports that using images increases likelihood of crashes, corrupted files, and lost work.

When submitting your homework, send in your saved .jazz file (or .jazzb file) and any associated files.

After the due date, you can make your information space viewable on the web if you want by using HiNote as an applet.  See these instructions about how to do this (except use jar "cvf" not "cvs").  Here is a template html file.