Talk:Lesson03

Ideas On Brushing and Interactivity

In regards to Brushing, I felt that it is one of the most intuitive ways to interact with data - provided the right visualization is used to display what it highlights. Another natural way is to use our finger and point, or circle on something (i.e. lasso). I would like to share a data selection method from Photoshop, that can switch between both brushing and lasso for you - taking the interactivity to another level.

For example, if you are nearby a few data points, holding down a keyboard button while 'brushing' against them will select them, while releasing a keyboard button while change it back to a lasso. This removes the need for users to switch between selection types. What Photoshop can do with these selections is letting the user select either a gradient color, or certain types of data it can re-use for later on - something powerful which when applied as an 'active filter' on other data points, automatically helps us find patterns.

Building on this example, I have an idea that could improve the user experience. The closest example to this is using a magnifying glass - the tool helps us to look closely at something as we scan the rest of the areas. This 'active filter' helps to identify a certain set of common patterns, and applies a 'lens' to this magnifying glass, revealing data points that also meet this criteria.

Animations or transitions can be used to represent this change over time, as the 'active filter' (i.e. mouse with filter) passes over the data points, helping the user to reveal insights that would have needed more cross tabulation. Perhaps a gradient color change as the mouse hovers over data points meeting the filter's criterias can let us know how strong or weak the correlation is in regards to the variables selected. As such, a 'magnifying glass' approach is achieved!

I think that such a method can help users see patterns from a top-down view quicker, and allowing them to filter off uninteresting data and only look on what is important. Comments? Please feel free to share your thoughts, and if this would work for you!

- Thomas Thio