Graph and Chart

For the chart I gathered information from a data set that searched for on the Roger Williams homepage. I chose to select data from a collection tuition amounts over the last 10 years. The data included too much information to include in one graph and needed more than one measuring stick so I choose only information I knew I could represent graphically (commuters vs. non, arch vs. non, undergrad/grad ect.) I chose to focus on tuition, resident fees, and room and board for an incoming freshman student. 

It was hard to get Excel to show the graph the way I wanted it. The proportions were hard to get right, and it was difficult to call in the proper cells for each piece of graph information. After getting everything to look accurate in terms of the way the graphical information is displayed on the graph, I began to explore the different graph types. The line graphs seemed to be easiest on the eye with limited cognitive load. I chose the 3-D line graph because total and tuition lines overlapped became distracting with a regular line graph. I would have liked to get the X axis labeled years, and the Y "Dollars in thousands" to allow the dependent variable to become integrals of 1 (1,2,3,4,5). 

The single most important thing that is missing from the graph (unless seen with the table) is a title. A "Undergraduate Tuition and Required Fees" title at the top of the graph would have further reduced the cognitive load.

Flow Charts

I did not have an amazon.com account before this flow chart, so the only way to complete the assignment was to make one. It was interesting to be experiencing the book buying process online for the first time by creating a flow chart. It was not easy and took a couple renditions. The search box is the most comprehensible tool of any website, which is why I chose it as for the main processes. The subsystems I created with my decision diamonds ensure that the viewer has an amazon account, and that they are able to search for any book or a specific text. The flow chart also walks the viewer through the technical elements of the check out process.

I miss-read the cognitive load/dual coding flow chart assignment. Instead of creating a flow chart for either google scholar or bing and cognitive load or dual coding, I created a flow chart combining all of the options. In order to create a process icon by which the viewer understood to search more than piece of information I inserted a data icon which is represented by a parallelogram. The subsystems in the flow chart are created by two decision icons. The first guarantees a suitable collection of documents returned from a search. The other subsystem allows the viewer to read documents from the suitable search return, but only bookmark the ones which are suitably revenant to the topic. A larger subsystem allows this entire process to continue so that multiple research documents can be gathered.

Explanation Graphic

The Information Graphic I choose to improve is made by a county health system in northern California called Contra Costa Health Services. The graphic itself is a flowchart detailing how to deal with a flu outbreak at a local school. I choose it because it took me a long time understand, so I figured there was a lot of cognitive load problem solving to be done. I also had a couple of ideas to help improve the dual coding used in the flow chart. I am very happy with progress I made between my first couple of attempts and my final graphic.