Olympics HistoryA Data Visualization Application

Team ThundercatsDavid Schechter, Shubhangi Rakhonde,

& Zayd Hammoudeh 1

• The Olympics are held every two years as a global celebration of amateur sports.

• Over 219 million Americans watched the London 2012 games.

• The United States won more medals than any other country in 2012, and NBC gleefully spoke of American Olympic dominance.

• Fundamental Question: How can one objectively determine which country performed the best at an Olympic games?

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The Olympic Games

Medals Alone are not Enough

• Most viewers are unaware of the various factors that affect country medal totals.

• Goal: Design a web based, data visualization application that educates users regarding these key Olympic medal dynamics including:– Geopolitics– National Economic Output– National Population– Host City Selection– Number of Participating Athletes– Event Bias

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Typical Application User

• The application’s user base is broad.

• Geared primarily, but not exclusively, towards those that have an existing interest in the Olympics and want to learn about the games at a much greater depth.

• Much of the analysis in the application is United States focused. The reasons we did this include:– The US has one of the most extensive and compelling Olympic

histories.– Increased relevance for class discussion and presentation– Desire to enlighten ourselves regarding the biases in American

Olympic television coverage.

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Scope Disclosure

• For clarity of data presentation, this project focused solely on the summer Olympics.

• Since the winter Olympics are generally smaller with fewer participating nations and athletes, some of the nuances of the analysis would not have been possible.

• Any general references to the “Olympics” in the subsequent discussion applies to the summer games only.

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Web Design Patterns & Techniques

Web design patterns and techniques used include:

– Feature Search Browse

– Visual Framework with Persistent Navigation• Bonus: Built-in images to enable recognition rather than recall.

– Breadcrumbs• “You are Here”

– Escape Hatch

– Carousel• Iconic Olympic images on the home page

– Taglines

– Hover Tools• Menu selection• Data visualization tools

– Grid of Equals

– Color Standardization• Concept presented by guest lecturer Robert Nicholson 6

Data Visualization Design Patterns

Data visualization design patterns and techniques used:

– Schneiderman’s Mantra• “Overview first, zoom and filter, then details-on-demand.”

– Dynamic Queries• Give ‘em what they want

– Data Spotlighting• “Focus Plus Context”

– Data Tips• Provide additional relevant context and data.

– Multi-Y Graphs

– Sortable Tables• A partial misnomer but sorting is the key

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