A usability study of interactive stacked bar charts : a dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Applied Computing with Honours at Lincoln University

Abstract

The project is to investigate computer users' responses to adding interactive aspects into stacked bar charts. A stacked bar chart can be difficult to interpret, particularly when comparing values between different stacks and segments. A trial program is designed to add interactive elements into stacked bar charts and to collect information about user interactivity when using it. The software was used in the software trial developed to investigate how interactivity could affect the user's interpretation of the data in the chart. Before the formal software trial, a pilot run was carried out to gather feedback to make modifications to the trial software. The result shows that the interactivity added into stacked bar charts helped the user to understand the data and gather more information from the data under certain conditions. Also, proper training and practice to understand the interface of the interactivity is important to allow users successfully acquire information from the interactive staked bar chart.