Project Description

Overview

• Meetings due: Oct 20 at 5pm
• Proposals due: Oct 27 at 5pm
• Project update presentations in class: Nov 14, 16
• Final presentations: Dec 14 11-2pm
• Final writeups due: Dec 15 2pm

Programming: For a programming project, you will implement a visualization system of your own. You may use existing components as the base for your system.

Meet with me in person to discuss your project at least once before submitting a proposal!

You're submitting a proposal, not a specification - it's natural that your plans will change somewhat as you refine your ideas. But your proposal should be based on an idea that we've discussed and I've approved. When you come talk to me about your proposal, I'll give you some pointers to background reading in the area of your interest. You need to meet with me the week of October 16 at the absolute latest, and earlier would be better. While I can sign off on some projects after only a single meeting, some people have needed two or three meetings to find an appropriate project that gets approved.

I advise that you start by thinking about what you want your software to do, and only then think about how you would implement it (languages, platforms, etc). The key is to find some domain and task that both interests you and presents an opportunity for infovis. That is, there is some task where a human needs to understand the structure of a large dataset. You're definitely welcome to link the infovis project to another class or research project. You may also build on existing software, but your project should include some implementation work of your own.

I do not advise that you start by deciding on a language, and then look around for some task that you might be able to do in that language - that's backwards, and is likely to stifle your creativity

Proposal format: your writeup should be at least two pages and include:

• names and email addresses of all people on this project team

• a description of the domain, task, and dataset that you're targeting.

• personal expertise. If you have expertise in that area, briefly describe it: anywhere from "this ties in with a project I'm doing for another course, I've just started doing reading in the area" to "I've been working on this for a year through an RAship" to "I've just been somewhat interested in this area for years, so I read about it occasionally". Or, of course, to "I don't know the area at all, but this seems like an interesting problem."

• your proposed infovis solution. You should propose an infovis solution, and of course relate it to your domain task and dataset. Abstraction is critical here!

• a scenario of use. Reminder from HCI background reading hcibib.org/tcuid/chap-2.html

  A scenario spells out what a user would have to do and what he or she would see step-by-step in performing a task using a given system. The key distinction between a scenario and a task is that a scenario is design-specific, in that it shows how a task would be performed if you adopt a particular design, while the task itself is design-independent: it's something the user wants to do regardless of what design is chosen.

• illustrations of what the interface will look like must be included in scenario. Hand-drawn sketches scanned in or mockups made with a drawing program are fine.

• your proposed implementation approach. You don't need lots of detail, just high-level things like which language and platform(s) you will use, and whether you will build on any pre-existing software or toolkits.

• milestones. Include a list of project milestones, breaking down the work into a series of smaller chunks.

• previous work. while this section will not be as complete as in your final report, you should begin to discuss what has been done in this area. your bibliography can include both academic work and any relevant commercial tools).

One proposal per project (whether it is individual or team) is due on October 27 by 5pm. Your proposal should be in the form of either HTML or PDF. Send me the URL for the page to hand in the proposal. Your email must have the following subject header:

Subject: 533 submit proposal

Final Presentations/Reports

You will present the results of your project with both a presentation and a written report. The presentation will occur during the final exam slot for this course, and the report is also due at that time. The reports should be at least 8-10 pages of text (programming) or 15-20 pages (analysis), and should include screen snapshots of your running software. There is no length restriction, feel free to use as much space as you need for images. Showing live demos of your software in action is encouraged in the final presentation. If you are giving a demo, be sure to practice in advance so that you don't run over your time slot! If you're using my laptop, also be sure that you have checked with me beforehand to make sure that things are set up correctly (check at least 48 hours in advance, you can get me newer software if needed later). Although your primary audience is me and your classmates, I will be inviting the department so there may be people there who haven't seen your project updates. Also, your classmates may not remember every detail of your project! So some context-setting is appropriate, but do focus more on your results.