Final Project
The purpose of the final project is to provide hands-on experience designing, implementing, and/or evaluating a visualization method, algorithm, or tool. Projects will be carried out by teams of 1-4 people. Your project should address a concrete visualization problem and propose a novel, creative solution. The final deliverables will be the results of your project (typically a visualization prototype or research report) and a 2 minute video communicating your project goals and results.
The majority of projects typically concern the development of a software artifact to advance an existing interest or research project. Examples include new visualization tools for a specific domain, interactive articles explaining an important concept or technique, or novel visualization methods or layout algorithms. In addition, design studies or evaluations of visualization techniques are also acceptable projects. The project specifics are flexible, so you should feel free to propose other ideas – for example, one prior submission involved a visualization-themed art installation! Please talk to the course staff if you have questions.
Prior to starting your project, it is helpful to gain a sense of what goes into formulating a successful visualization project and to beware of common pitfalls. We encourage you to read A Nested Model for Visualization Design and Validation by Tamara Munzner. This paper is required reading later in the course, so you might as well get a head start!
Deliverables/Schedule
- Proposal (Wed 5/19, 11:59pm). Propose your chosen topic, any dataset(s), and team members. Complete the registration form (one per team). We will create a new set of GitHub repos for each project.
- Milestone Review (Thu 5/27, 11:59pm). Develop an initial prototype of your project and, similar to A3, publish it using GitHub pages (if applicable). This prototype will be used by the course staff to provide feedback on your designs. It is fine if your project is not yet in a "complete" state; however, by this point you should have the structure of your project laid out, working (if rough) prototypes of your main visualizations and interactions, and at least basic descriptive text. Each team should submit a link to their project materials (GitHub pages or repo) on Canvas.
- Demo Video (Wed 6/2, 11:59pm). You must produce a demo video (not to exceed 2 minutes in length) that introduces and explains your project. Your video can take the form of a narrated demo of your project, and may include additional content as you see fit. We will share the videos in class on 6/3. More information about preparing the video is available here.
- Deliverables (Wed 6/9, 11:59pm). Publish your final project web page and/or research results. You may make final touches to your work after any feedback from our video session. More information about preparing the final deliverables is available here.
The project milestone and final deliverables will be submitted and deployed on the CSE 512 GitHub organization. You will be assigned repositories after submitting your proposal. Your video should be posted to YouTube, and a URL to your video must be submitted via Canvas.
Grading
The final project will count for 40% of your final grade in the course. We will consider the novelty of the idea, how it addresses the problem at hand, the methodology you employ in doing the research, and your proficiency in implementing the idea. We will particularly focus on the usefulness of your results, as well as your choice of visualization and interaction design decisions (as applicable).