CMSC /436636: 
Data Visualization

Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department 
University of Maryland Baltimore County

Visualization Construction Assignment

Due: October 17, 2017

Project Description

In this assigment you will use publicly available visualization tools to construct some basic visualizations of your project data. In the process, you will become more familiar with the range of visualization options available and how to accomplish what you want in your term project.

Part One: Tool Review

Write a two paragraph review of two different freely available visualization or programming tools from the following list: You may review a tool not on this list, with prior approval from the instructor. Your tool reviews are intended to help you assess whether these tools would be a suitable development platform for your project. Your reviews should address capabilities, data types supported, visualization types supported, interface or API, and capability for customization. Turn in a written copy of your reviews in class. After you have turned in your reviews, post another copy to the class discussion board (so that your classmates can benefit from your discoveries).

Part Two: Visualizations

Create four visualizations using the data for your project. Your four visualizations should explore two different sets of design options or parameters using each of two tools. Your two images using the tool should look substantially different and should use interesting techniques (ie. simple line graphs, bar charts, and maps are boring). For this exercise, the goal is to create visualizations that are far apart in design space. For that reason, they need not satisfy design or task goals set by your client. If you choose, one of your visualizations may be the image you submitted as the alpha release of your project. Your visualization report should include an image for each visualization with an explanatory caption. Your caption should explain what the visualization shows, as well as relevant techniques and paramenters used. You should email a pdf format report to the instructor before the beginning of class.