In building on the map I created last week, I was able to use HTML code to include a legend to the map I created through the Layer Wizard. I still want to add several features, but it is definitely an improvement from the very first map I made. Eventually I would like a drop down menu so viewers can switch through the years. Right now, the map displays data from 2013, but if you click on one of the school’s, you can see the percentage of students who are proficient from 2007-2013. Switching between years would allow viewers to see how each school has progressed over time.
2 thoughts on “Updated Map: Part 2”
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The data visualization looks great. A combination of polygon and point layer accomplishes the goal of showing the geographic location of the school operated by the Hartford Public School system and the achievement characteristic of each school. The search tool in the previous map “Update to last week’s map” is a great way to help parents who participate in Open Choice program to locate the high performing schools in their neighborhood. The only minor thing that could be improved is probably the choice of color for the point layer. Instead of assigning three distinctive colors, you can use color of same hue and different values. Low, middle and high value are associated with worst, average and best performing school. This trick can facilitate viewers better in interpreting the map.
I am looking forward to seeing a drop down menu so viewers can see the change like improvement for each school through the years. The other suggestion to show the progress in school performance is an interactive graph that complements with the searching tool, together embedded in polygon-point map. My intention is to create a combination of chart and map such as Google Flu Trend, and here is the link:
https://www.google.org/flutrends/us/#US
Instead of the drop down menu of year in Google Flu Trend example, there will be a searching tool of different schools in Open Choice Program. If the viewer clicks on any particular school, the line graph above the map displays the progress of the school performance. The y-axis presents the percentage of students at proficient, and the x-axis expresses the year from 2007 to 2013.
I think the visualization is very good. The fact that you were able to use the HTML code to add the legend is helpful for me, the viewer, in understanding the distribution throughout the map. It would definitely be significantly more difficult to understand without it, so that is an excellent improvement. One thing that I would change about the legend, though is that instead of just putting “CMT” I would put what “CMT” stands for, just to make things as clear as possible for the viewer, because the goal of the legend is to keep as many things explicitly clear as possible. Additionally, two other small things that I would change about the legend that just make things more aesthetically pleasing for the viewer are putting putting “0-51”, “51-69”, “69-100”, instead of having the “<"; and secondly I would include the percentage signs, not only in the legend but also on the pop-ups on the map. It's just a small thing that makes it more aesthetically pleasing and slightly more clear to the viewer.
I love the idea of the drop down menu so that people are able to scroll through the years. From that you could even create charts and graphs of each year to track what kinds of changes have been made so that you have a different type of visual other than just a map. The different years would still be able to interact on the line graph as well so the viewer would be able to see the relationship between the years. https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/gallery/linechart