Abstract

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many data visualizations were created to alert the public to the rapidly growing threat. Statistics on the spread of COVID-19 have been displayed on data dashboards, a mechanism for sharing information throughout the pandemic, which has aided in this process. When developing the visuals for COVID-19, the majority of time was spent on the technical aspects of designing and evaluating various visualization methods. Little is understood about the inner workings of visualization production processes due to the complex sociotechnical environments in which they are embedded. However, such ecological data is necessary for identifying the particulars and tendencies of visualization design practices in the wild and generating insights into how artists learn to perceive and approach visualization design on their terms and for their contextual aims. We conducted in-depth interviews with dashboard designers from federal and state health departments, major news media outlets, and other firms that created (often widely used) COVID-19 dashboards to gain insight into the following areas. What kind of problems, disagreements, and conflicts arose during making the COVID-19 dashboard because of the participation of visualization creators? The trajectory of design practices—from genesis to expansion, maintenance, and termination—is determined by the complex interconnections between design goals, design tools and technologies, labour, emerging crisis circumstances, and public participation. We zeroed in on these procedures' tensions between designers and the general public. Conflicts frequently arose due to a chasm between public demands and prevailing policies. They typically centred on the types and amounts of information that should be visualized and how public perceptions shape and are shaped by visualization design. The strategies used to deal with (potential) misinterpretations and misuse of visualizations. Our findings and takeaways offer fresh viewpoints on visualization design by highlighting the bundled activities typically linked with human and nonhuman participation along the entire trajectory of design practice

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