Design elements of graphical representations

Term 2, 2011Week 5

CONTENTS• Design elements of graphical representations

– Proportion– Orientation– Clarity & consistency– Colour– Contrast– Usability– Accessibility– Appropriateness & relevance

• Design tools– Layout diagrams– Other considerations

• Questions

Design elements of graphical representations

Design elements are factors that enhance the appearance & functionality of solutions.

Graphic representations that are displayed on screen & form part of a solution need to be understood easily and accessed with minimum time & effort.

• When designing an on-screen graphic, we must be careful to take into account the following design principles:

• Proportion • Orientation• Clarity & Consistency • Colour & Contrast

• Usability • Accessibility

• Appropriateness • Relevance

Proportion

• Refers to the visual hierarchy of objects within the graphic representation.

• What does this mean?– That the most important pieces of information

have visual prominence in the graphic.• Titles, Axis Labels

– The relative sizings & positioning of objects also affect the visual hierarchy of the graphic representation.

Orientation

• Orientation refers to the direction & aspect of elements within a graphic.

• When deciding on the orientation of objects, the designer should typically consider the direction of data labels, alignment of data labels & text, and whether the title will appear above or below the graphic.

Clarity & consistency

• Clarity refers to how clearly the information in the graphic is presented & how well a user can differentiate between objects in the graphic form.

• Consistency refers to the use of similar, recurring or conventional features, especially in regards to font styles & sizes of similar elements, as well as colour.

• Colour should be used so that it makes the information clear, readable & attractive.

• Conventions in regards to colour can be found on page 27 of your text book.

Colour

ContrastContrast refers to the visual difference in colours or

tones between objects in graphic representations.Greater contrast will make objects appear to stand

out more from one another. If there is not enough contrast, it will appear that the objects blend in with one another.

The use of white space can enhance the contrast around objects within a given graphic representation.

Colour & contrast

UsabilityAll solutions need to be user friendly. When

assessing a solution for usability, you should consider the following:- Can the user

understand the graphic form & the information it conveys? quickly identify the purpose of the graphic & interpret its critical

data?

- Is the graphic form accurate & a true reflection of the numerical data that has been

analysed? attractive & pleasing to the eye?

Accessibility

• Users should be able to easily gain meaning & relevant information from graphic representations, in an efficient manner.

• Users shouldn’t have to puzzle over the meaning of any text or symbols used, as such, simple & relevant labels and commonly understood symbols should be utilised.

Appropriateness & relevance

• A solution must meet the needs of the intended audience with appropriate information that is relevant.

• Extra information or detail that doesn’t relate to the purpose of the solution should be avoided.

Appropriateness & relevance

Design tools

• Design tools are used to represent the functionality & appearance of a solution.

• Usually, it is sketched on paper or created on a computer first.

• The main advantage of designing a solution on paper first, is that it enables changes to be made easily without impacting on the development of the solution.

Layout diagrams• Layout diagrams provide a visual representation of how a final

spread sheet or other information solution may look.• Layout Diagrams should clearly indicate:

– Various data types to be entered• Is it an integer? Floating Point Number? Character? String?

– Cell Contents– Labels (to assist with data entry into correct cells)– Functions to be used (ie. Mathematical calculations)– Validation rules, with possible error messages– Cell protection to be used, if any– Formats & Conventions to be used when manipulating spread sheet

data

Layout diagram example

• Layout diagrams should clearly indicate:– The shape of graphic representations– Chart titles, axis labels & legend– Formats & Conventions that are used in graphic

representations– Any sorting to be applied to the data

Other considerations...

• The data set that will be used as the basis of the graphic representation should also be considered.

• The types and amount of data, as well as the purpose for developing a graphic representation are also factors in deciding the type of graphic representation to be used.

Questions

• What are design elements?• Make a table that lists and describes the design

elements.• Have a look at the line graph which shows

unemployment figures (figure 1-25). Discuss how the elements have been used, and how successfully this has been done.

• What is the purpose of using a design tool?• Use a layout diagram to sketch a more effective graphic

representation of the data shown in Figure 1-24.