Heuristics for evaluating narrative visualization: a validation study

• DOI: 10.1007/s12650-025-01051-y
• Publication Date: 2025-02-24T06:12:34Z
• Authors: Nina Errey; Didar Zowghi; Tuck Wah Leong; Yadong Wu; Xiaoru Yuan; Weidong Huang; Christy Jie Liang
• Keywords: Heuristics

Abstract Narrative visualization integrates data visualization and narrative techniques to convey a compelling story. Narrative visualization is notoriously difficult to evaluate. One solution is heuristic evaluation, using a domain-specific set of heuristics. This paper validates a set of heuristics proposed specifically for evaluating narrative visualization. We conducted studies with experienced narrative visualization practitioners in both summative and formative settings. We found that the set of heuristics showed promise in a summative setting, where similar responses evidenced that the set of heuristics could provide reliable evaluation metrics. Furthermore, in a formative setting, implementing the set of heuristics was reported to be useful in the design process; however, due to their limited focus, we recommend that it be implemented in conjunction with other evaluation guidelines.

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