A custom data visualization tracking my music preferences and taste. It displays four different variables key to understanding music taste: days logged, genre, enjoyment level, and minutes listened to.
After mulling over different ways to display the data, I decided using color, shape, and size were the best ways to communicate the data I needed to. Scale maps to minutes listened to, shape is for enjoyment, and color is for genre.
Before drawing a single object, I analyzed poster designs that handled complex datasets effectively.
Visual hierarchy techniques for dense information layouts.
Palette balance capable of supporting 22 distinct data marks.
Novel graphic approaches and unconventional visual encodings.
I went through multiple different designs until settling on the end product. I judged each on presentation and how clearly it communicated the data.
Trimmed seven potential metrics down to two essential signals: total listening duration and personal enjoyment rating.
Tested scatter plots, streamgraphs, ridgeline charts, bubble clusters, and two distinct matrix grid layouts.
Selected a fixed matrix grid layout. Assigning fixed coordinates allows vertical day comparisons and horizontal genre analysis.