Data Visualization - Winter 2024

The final project consists of two parts


Final project proposal

Develop and formally present your proposal for the final project. The goal of the final project is to create/develop compelling visualization solution for a non trivial data set. Following items should be considered for choosing the project

  • Dataset: Identify and describe a publicly available dataset that will be used for the project. (Dataset must be public - no exceptions will be made)
  • Tasks: Specify five tasks that you intend to address with visualization.
    • What problems are you trying to solve for the chosen data?
    • Is visualization meant for data exploration, hypothesis confirmation or presentation?
    • What data transformation needs to be undertaken to work with the data? Carefully choose your data so you don’t spend enormous amount of time with data wrangling.
    • What are the use case scenarios?
  • How: How will the visualization solution be implemented?
    • You may include sketches or concept diagrams.
    • Include interaction capabilities that will be useful for your solution. For example: Zoom, Filtering, Sorting, Etc.
    • Programming dominant - The solution will be implemented using a specific programming library for e.g bokeh, d3js, etc.
    • Application dominant - The solution will use a visualization application for e.g. Tableau, VisIt, etc. Some scripting may be done for data translation, etc. Since this work will likely take less effort than programming dominant solution. You must do an extensive literature survey for related class of problems and include that in your report and presentation. Literature survey is not needed for the final project proposal.
  • Who: Who are the stake holders (for e.g. public or analysts)

  • Final proposal submission
    • Up to six slides in PDF/Powerpoint format (no exceptions). You may include sketches or concept diagrams in the submission document.
    • You will present your proposal in class. Up to 6 minutes for presentation, 2 minute for discussion and change to next student.
    • Presentation will be graded based on requirements above.
  • Due Date - Feb 2nd, 1am PT

Final project solution

Final projects will be presented to the entire class. Each presentation will be followed by Q & A session

  • Presentation Like the final project report, presentations are expected to include motivation, dataset and data wrangling overview, tasks, solutions and results/findings.
    • 13 mins (Presentation) + 2min (QA/discussion/change over). Time limits will be enforced
    • Presentation order
    • You may do a live demonstration (at your own risk) or use a video (up to 5 mins). Video is recommended, but not mandatory.
    • Presentation will be graded
    • Use your own laptop for presentation. Make sure to bring a display adapter for your laptop. HDMI/VGA adapter has worked well, but if you plan to use something else, please check with MAS coordinator.
  • Submission
    • Due Date - Mar 16th, 11:59 PM PT
    • Presentation slides (10-12)
    • Demonstration video (optional)
    • Programming dominant
      • Code with detailed execution instructions
    • Application dominant
      • Application file and setup information
    • Data - Include data or reference / link to download the data in submission. If you are using a database backend, make it accessible for grading purpose.
    • Readme.txt - Explain how to run your code or application
    • Report for programing dominant projects must include the following sections
      • Report format
      • Page limits: 6 - 8 pages
      • Project title
      • Page break up for each section below are rought guidelines
      • Abstract (300 words, 0.5 page) - Summarize project goals, results and findings.
      • Introduction (0.5 page)- Provide a brief background and motivation for the project
      • Dataset (0.5 - 1 page)- Briefly describe the data and summarize its key attributes. Include description of significant preprocessing that was required for the project.
      • Tasks (0.5 - 1 page)- Describe the chosen tasks and the audience for the project
      • Solution (2 - 4 pages)
        • Visualization design - Describe and justify the design choices and idioms used to accomplish listed tasks
        • Implementation - Briefly summarize key aspects of the implementation, show Pseudo code where necessary
        • Usage - very briefly outline software usage
      • Results (2 - 4 pages)
        • Include key snapshots as appropriate. You may also refer the time in submitted video where appropriate.
        • Discuss the expressiveness and effectiveness of your solution
        • Discuss findings as well as key hurdles and challenges overcome
        • What are weakness in the solution and lessons learned?
        • Bibliography (does not count against page limit)
    • Report for application dominant project must include the following sections
      • Report format
      • Page limits: 15 - 20 pages
      • Project title
      • Page break up for each section below are rough guidelines
      • Abstract (300 words, 0.5 page) - Summarize the project goals, results and findings.
      • Introduction (0.5 page - 1 page) - Provide a brief background background and motivation for the project
      • Dataset (1 page) - Briefly describe the data and summarize its key attributes. Include description of significant preprocessing that was required for the project.
      • Tasks (2 pages)- Describe the chosen tasks and the audience for the project
      • Related works (3-5 pages)
        • Comprehensive explanation of similar/related work to your project that is published literature. See good sources for literature survey above. Include image snapshots as appropriate. (Study and inclusion of 3 related works is recommended)
        • Discussion of relevance of related literature survey to your project
      • Solution (3-5 pages)
        • Visualization design - Describe and justity the design choices and idioms used to accomplish listed tasks
        • Usage - very briefly outline application usage
      • Results (3-5 pages)
        • Include key snapshots as appropriate. You may also refer the time in submitted video where appropriate.
        • Discuss the expressiveness and effectiveness of your solution
        • Discuss findings as well as key hurdles and challenges overcome
        • What are weakness in the solution and lessons learned?
        • Please DO NOT discuss future work or things not implemented.
      • Bibliography (does not count against page limit)

Final project grading rubric

  • Programming Dominant
    • Visualization Design & Expressiveness 35%
    • Comprehensiveness/Task Completion & Effectiveness 25%
    • Interactivity 10%
    • Report 20%
    • Presentation 10%
  • Application Dominant
    • Visualization Design & Expressiveness 20%
    • Comprehensiveness/Task Completion & Effectiveness 20%
    • Report 50%
    • Presentation 10%

Report Format

  • Letter size page 8 1⁄2 in × 11 in
  • One inch margin on all sides
  • Font: Times New Roman, size 11pt or 12 pt, you may use larger font size up to 14pt for headings.
  • Include your name in header section
  • PDF (recommended) or Microsoft Word ONLY