A framework for value visualizations
Regular talk, 3:50 - 4:50 PM
This introduces a framework for value visualizations, displays where the placement of the plotted objects is designed to compare numeric values, Most visualization systems construct value visualizations with low-level instructions or a compositional grammar based on the shapes of the plotted objects. LessR package, however, organizes value visualizations using only 3 core functions, which reflect the structure of the underlying data rather than the underlying shapes, each answering a specific question: Chart() for aggregated numeric values across categories to illustrate how many or to what extent, X() for numeric distributions plotted along the x-axis, and XY() for numeric relationships plotted in the x-y coordinate system. Each function supports multiple analytically equivalent but perceptually distinct geometric forms, optionally stratified by grouping factors according to the parameter by for within-panel grouping and the parameter facet for between-panel grouping. Further, these functions share only those two parameters, plus x and perhaps y for the primary variables, and parameter type for specifying the specific geometric form, such as histogram, substantially reducing syntactic complexity. Three functions using at most five parameters provide a concise, consistent vocabulary across the functions for a large variety and types of data visualizations, many interactive, that range from density plots, sunburst charts, bivariate contour curves, time series, and many more.
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