Final Prototype

Final considerations:
Due to the functionality of the prototype I was unable to add the following elements without breaking the infographic. However, if possible I would include:

• Animations: a resolved version of the prototype would have the icons moving/floating on the stage, making the visual appearance of the infographic more interactive and making the user feel more inclined to want to touch and move them.
• Hover text: I also would have hover text over the icons, so when the user hovers over the categories the name appears. This gives the user more clarity as to what the icons actually represent. 

Final reflection
An information design must be able to bring clarity to complex data without over simplifying data.

“The notion that data needs to be simplified, boiled down, is a misconception.” (Tufte 1990)

“Clutter and confusion are failure of design, and are not attributes of content.” (Tufte 1990)

Keeping the above statements in mind, my prototype aims to provide clarity to users about Australian expenditure in a way that does not detract value from the data but is easy to understand. I am happy with the final prototype, despite being unable to include the elements above. I think it is a simple yet interactive way to display government and household expenditure, in order to allow users to comprehend and compare the data sets visually. 


I would improve the infographic by developing more detailed layers of information for the user to add. This might include a more detailed breakdown of each category and what they include, or a slider to allow the user to view data from different years and compare the changes. 

Infographic Prototype

I have finished developing the graphics for my infographic and designing the way I want it to look.

The prototype can be found here:
Infographic.swf 

This is how i would like the infographic to look. However, the coding to drop and drag the icons limits the visual interactivity, so I may not be able to have the icons floating on the screen or some appearing larger than others to immediately portray which categories spend more than others. I need to work on a balance between the visual aesthetic of the infographic and the actual functionality.

Data Visualisation

Icons representing data spending types

I have created the following icons to represent each data type. Along with these icons, titles will appear when the user hovers over the buttons.

Government Spending icons: from left to right
- Community Services and Culture
- Education
- General Government Services
- Defence
- Health
- Infrastructure, Transport and Energy
- Industry and Workforce
- Social Security and Welfare

Household Spending icons: from left to right
- Medical Care and Health Expenses
- Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages
- Household Services and Operation
- Miscellaneous Goods and Services
- Other (clothing, personal care, domestic fuel and power, alcohol and tobacco products)
- Housing Costs
- Household Furnishing and Equipment
- Recreation
- Transport

I think these icons visually represent the data types in an aesthetically pleasing and recognisable way.
The icons can be selected and dragged onto the scale in order to see the level of spending and make comparisons to other data sets.

Developing Interface - icons

Now that i have a rough idea of the interface layout, I need to create icons that represent each of the spending types.

Here are some that I found inspiration from:

1. Shutterstock

I like the use of colours with these, I think I will definitely need to use a range of colours in order to differentiate between the icons when they are floating on the interface.

2. Google Images

The graphics on these icons give me a good idea of how I might represent each category. For example, I really like the heartbeat one which could represent health etc.

I want to keep the icons quite simple - drawing on design analogies such as a scholars cap to represent education. However, when the user hovers over them text will appear to let the user know exactly what spending type that icon is. This eliminates any confusion over what the graphic/icon stands for.

Interface Mock Up

This mock up roughly shows the layout of the interface, and how it might function. The icons floating at the top are in two spending categories - government and household. The size of the icons also indicates the amount of money spent in each. They can be dragged and dropped onto the screen to see the spending amount in comparison to other spending types.

I still want to have a filter or layer option for the user, so I will continue to work through the data and interface layout.

Sketches - developing interface layout

I have continued developing the interface layout, also taking into consideration the practicality of the coding involved, and my level of skill.

The rough sketch below shows a more achievable layout for me and will still be visually effective.

I want to have the icons floating at the top of the screen which you can drag and drop onto the main screen, at which point they turn into cylinders or perhaps a dollar sign etc. The bar to the left of the screen is the point of measure, and the size of the shape represent how much money is being spent on that particular spending type. Users can drag and drop multiple icons to compare data.

I could have two screens in which the user can compare both government spending types and household spending types. I need to decide whether I want to have them separate or have them all together. I think I want them all together so that the user can compare any spending type they want to, and not be confined to comparing only government types to household types.

I would also like to have a filter option in the form of check boxes that allow the user to choose to display percentage of GDP, increase or decrease in spending, and how much is spent per Australian. However this might be something I would do to improve the infographic at later stages.

Sketches - brainstorming interface layout

I have started brainstorming ideas around the display for the infographic. I think it would be effective to have the stage as a map of Australia from birds-eye-view, with the icon (expenditure categories) floating around on the interface. The map immediately shows users the context of the data, but the icons would be floating so that the user does not associate the data to a particular location on the map - a state or city. The icons would also be bigger or smaller than others depending on the level of expenditure they have.

The user can click on one of the icons and the view changes to front-on to display more information about the expenditure type, how much is spent, the increase or decrease since the last term etc.

The user can also compare the categories by dropping and dragging more than one onto the current data open.

I want to stick to a fairly fluid layout, and try to get away from structured graphs or tables. I want to play with the interactivity as I think it is what will make this infographic the most effective, considering the complexity of the data.

My first sketches are below:

Birds-eye view:

Front-on view: