The data visualization I chose to analyze is
this interactive dog breed family tree by Michael Whitehead and Nick Evershed based on work done by the National Human
Genome Research Institute.
The visualization works by allowing the
user to select what type of dog breed they want to see and showing the similarity
between it and other breeds as a number from one to one hundred when the user
hovers their mouse over the image. The visualization is very clean and
generally simple to view and understand, although when showing some groupings
of breeds, the names and numbers overlap and become difficult to read. The
image shifts very slightly when the user repeatedly clicks on the image, maybe
to try to alleviate this issue, but it is uncontrollable and slow.
In addition to the image showing the number
to signify the similarities, the line connecting the images also becomes wider
or thinner to correspond with the number. Because most of the numbers are very
low, this line is almost the exact same across the board and only draws
attention when it is dramatically different, such as the line between the Norfolk
Terrier and the Norwich Terrier. This effect achieves success in highlighting
breeds that are very similar, but one other method that could have been used would
be to make the distance between the images correspond to their similarities, so
the closer the images together the more similar.
At the beginning of the article, some examples
of images are shown to familiarize the viewer with the processes of the visualization.
Instead of multiple examples of the same basic thing, I think it would
have been interesting if it showed off, for example, which dog breeds are most
similar overall. If a user wanted to follow a trail from one breed to another
they would have to simply go into the list and keep track of the trail
themselves. It also would have been interesting if there was a feature to allow
the user to see how one breed becomes more like another, like it’s teased in
the subheading of the article.
The visualization works well in the shape
of a sun like this. It could have been presented as a bar graph, but would have
been very long across for some of the breeds, so I think it was best presented
as it is.
Perhaps one of the best parts of this
visualization is the page that is displayed when the user selects the “wild”
group option. This page shows a Grey Wolf all on its own in the centre, with no
relatives around it. In all, the visualization allows for some fun and interesting
experimentation with such a massive selection of breeds available.
Evershed,
Nick. “Interactive: See How Your Favourite Dog Breeds Are Related to Each
Other.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Oct. 2020,
www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2020/oct/25/interactive-see-how-your-favourite-dog-breeds-are-related-to-each-other#doggraphic.
