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Using my sketch from Part 1, I further developed my story outline and relevant components visually through the use of wireframing/storyboards. I have used Shorthand to share the data visualizations of the critical elements of my story with the readers.
Please find my story outline draft built on Shorthand below.
My intended target audience will be Aspiring Entrepreneurs like me who are looking to start their own business, particularly in the food industry. With this project, I can target audiences who are seeking to gather data insights, potential challenges, and strategies to make a successful business. Additionally, my target audience will also include current restaurant owners who are looking to improve their business models. They could benefit from the insights which this project will help them create such as top-rated cuisines, customer reviews and feedback, and analysis of their current competitors. The public data repository gives me the flexibility to access data for all the restaurants across the states. However, for the scope of this project, I will be making a detailed analysis of the restaurants in Pittsburgh and further refining it to several zip codes in the city. Any restaurant owner or someone who is looking to build a restaurant in Pittsburgh will be my intended audience.
My approach to identifying representative individuals for my interview will be based on three types of individuals. First, someone who has strong knowledge on the restaurant industry, and who is aware of the ins and outs of the restaurant industry. Second, someone who knows the market, and the competition, but is from another industry. This will help me understand insights from the perspective of a different industry. Third, someone who is unaware of the restaurant industry, or any other specific industry, but has a strong understanding of the real-estate business.
1st Individual: Male (mid-20s) with an Information Systems Management background, who has a family business of real-estate in India, and has closely monitored and participated in real-estate investment projects.
2nd Individual: Male (mid-20s) with an Information Systems Management background, who has family-run restaurant business in Philadelphia for more than 10 years.
3rd Individual: Male (mid-30s) with an Information Systems Management background, who has experience in the healthcare industry, and had a few startups of his own in Peru.
To design my Interview Script, I will be using Stephen Few’s Data Visualization Effectiveness Profile. This profile will consist of two broad categories, an overall category, and several subcategories.
| Goal | Questions to Ask |
|---|---|
| Usefulness | How does the storyboard/wireframe meet the needs of its intended audience? Did you notice any specific elements that add value to the information? |
| Completeness | Are there any gaps in understanding you noticed? Does the information provided give you a full context? |
| Perceptibility | Did you find it easy to understand the information? Were there any parts in the presentation that you found hard to interpret? |
| Truthfulness | Do you think the shorthand representation is accurate and valid? |
| Intuitiveness | Was the representative intuitive and clear? Do you think any part requires additional explanation? |
| Aesthetics | What are your thoughts on the visual appeal and the navigation of the shorthand presentation? |
| Engagement | Did the storyboard/wireframe capture and hold your attention? Was it engaging or distracting? |
| Overall | Are there any overall suggestions or changes you would recommend? |
Interviews 1 and 3 were conducted virtually, Interview 2 was conducted in person. The interviewees took approximately 5-8 minutes to go through the story and comprehend it. There were several reviews about the story flow, visual representation, and other components of the storyboard. Detailed findings based on the interviews are listed below.
| Questions | Interview 1 (briefly describe) | Interview 2 | Interview 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| How does the storyboard/wireframe meet the needs of its intended audience? Did you notice any specific elements that add value to the information? | I think the storyboard is successful in helping me understand the nuances of the restaurant business. | The visual, the coloring, and the memorable stories of the two brothers. The charts made the argument more enticing. | Clear who the audience is and it is a very niche story so that’s good. liked the story approach to explain the concept |
| Are there any gaps in understanding you noticed? Does the information provided give you a full context? | The story is fragmented as a result of which the smooth flow of information is disrupted | Why specifically research on the following areas: competitive analysis, location analysis, and menu planning? | There could be some more valuable data to be added - success of restaurants that took data-driven business decisions vs those who didn’t |
| Did you find it easy to understand the information? Were there any parts in the presentation that you found hard to interpret? | Increase the size of the chart to make sure to view all the information at once | How Ross the Data analyst fits into the story of the two brothers. | The charts were small so they were harder to read. |
| Do you think the shorthand representation is accurate and valid? | There could be chances of restaurants surviving without analytics but the chances are low | They go straight to the point and make the argument more digestible. | Yes it is accurate and has a nice story-like flow to it. |
| Was the representative intuitive and clear? Do you think any part requires additional explanation? | The slide on the Failure of restaurants would need additional details about the causes of restaurant failures | Minor changes with the charts | Would like to read / see more about the intuitive brother to better contrast and strengthen the point that data-driven decision making is key in this business |
| What are your thoughts on the visual appeal and the navigation of the shorthand presentation? | Work is very appealing visually. Looks very professional and rich | love the visually appealing story because it makes the reading more engaging. | Was very visually appealing. Felt like I was reading a comic book. |
| Did the storyboard/wireframe capture and hold your attention? Was it engaging or distracting? | Navigating through the presentation was like a breeze | Yes, it is a very memorable story. | Was very engaging - especially the story of the two brothers and the reference to Friends which most people would be able to relate to |
| Are there any overall suggestions or changes you would recommend? | Overall great job Vikash. All the best. | Nice presentation | Fit the charts in one view where viewers can see the whole thing without scrolling e.g. ratings chart |
I could see similarities between the changes suggested by the three interviewees. All of them pointed out that the story had a smooth flow, mentioning the similarity to reading a comic book. However, there were a few areas, which need further research and improvements. The interview sessions were really helpful in gaining insights into the overall quality of my work. Getting the work reviewed by other users broadened my perspective and expanded my views on the topic.
I will try covering most of the feedback and suggestions from the interviews. However, I will focus on the below areas, where all three users had common views on the change being necessary for a better flow. The area of focus have been mentioned below:
| Research synthesis | Anticipated changes for Part III |
|---|---|
| There were parts of the story that seemed fragmented. This could break the flow of the story | I will be working on linking the first half which is before the hypothetical story to the latter half. Improving the charts and linking the visualization to the story structure. |
| Charts were difficult to comprehend. Users had to zoom in to read the values. | I did struggle to make the images bigger. I have to try expanding the image or choosing a layout that properly displays images as well as supporting texts. |
| Need to bring out both sides of the story. | User research strictly suggested to bring in the story of the intuitive brother. I will be putting in more research to support the story of the intuitive brother. |
| Visualization has to be laid out properly on the board. | My Tableau visualizations were a bit messy, I tried to fix it in part 2, but I will be further enhancing it in part 3. The visualizations should tell a story on its own. |
| Use intuitive colors for the pie charts | I have to be creative with the colors of the chart. I have to select colors that are more intuitive for example, the Net Profit pie should stand out and other pies should have a less impactful color. The same applies to the donut chart. |
I have to do some thorough research on the story of the intuitive brother. This will require pulling in more data to support the cause of restaurants that have a high chance of failing without a data-driven approach. Additionally, the class on 21st February had a critique session, where I collected feedback from my peers. There were suggestions for zooming in on the map’s visualization to have clear visuals of the restaurants pinpointed on the map. I will be trying to figure that out on Tableau. Another suggestion that was made was to compare the individual business metrics like location, price, and ratings to find a cumulative ranking. This might need the use of some statistical concepts like multivariable ranking using weighted averages. I will try implementing this based on the complexity.
Overall, I will be making sure that I have all the citations/sources mentioned in the correct format. Since there is a lot of iFrame code embedded, I will make sure that I test the entire storyboard for any misses. I will finally be going through my GitHub Portfolio to make sure all the sections are properly marked. Additionally, I will check if the headers and links have been properly connected and if nothing breaks end-to-end.