Lab Week 4

I chose to implement an arc diagram to show the different names in the data set and their respective popularities. The reason I chose the arc diagram is that I really enjoyed how it split up the names by gender very clearly and also gives a visual representation of their frequency in the data set. It is a creative way to link the names together, as we saw in class.

The modification I made to the original was spaced out, weighted circles, so that it is obvious to those observing that not all these names were selected evenly. This visualization makes it obvious which names are most prominent because of the human’s ability to see the difference within individual size. One feature that I found tricky was changing the color of the circles. If I could create this in the most beneficial way for the viewer, I would also add a gradient scale to further demonstrate difference within the diagram. I also changed the background to yellow because a strictly black and white diagram is often boring to deal with in not very appealing to the eyes. I still chose a light color, however, because I want the diagram to be clear to see and analyze.

That is another reason why I used weighted degree rather than the usage of weighted out degree. That feature, unfortunately, clumps up the graph, and although the circles are bigger, it becomes ambiguous to what the different sizes of the circles represent. That ultimately becomes a distraction to the viewer and does nothing to enhance the clarity and viewing experience. I felt like the most optimal visualization would be simple, clear to the observer, while using a unique feature to pop out more than a simple bar graph. This gives a fresh look on simple data that serves to be engaging for the observers.