Week 18: How do we visualize the data?

Last week we received feedback that visualizing each student in a different color made the screen look as if the students were already divided into groups. It also made it harder to distinguish between them, especially when several students appeared in the same color, such as orange.

Therefore, this week we decided to change all students to one unified color. This makes the visualization cleaner, easier to read, and helps present the students as one shared social fabric rather than as separate groups.

In addition, the lines connecting the students will also be used to communicate information. The thickness of each line will represent the strength of the connection, the number of things the students have in common, such as hobbies, preferences, or similar answers between the students.

Since the data is quite complex, we also had another idea: creating a personal data view for each student, which the teacher could choose to share with them. For example, if a student seems socially isolated or needs support in building connections, the teacher could send them a personalized view suggesting classmates they might connect with, based on shared interests or common answers.

This week, we also continued our validation process. We conducted a validation session with a homeroom teacher and received very positive feedback, along with a few suggestions for small improvements. For example, instead of calling the second stage a “follow-up game,” she suggested using the term “follow-up activity,” since the feature can also be used for educational purposes and does not always have to be framed as a game.

We also received feedback that the shapes used to represent the answers looked too childish. As a result, we decided to remove the shapes completely and differentiate between the answers using colors only.

Finally, this week we also started working on the video. We filmed a first version with the help of our classmates as preparation for the final video. In the coming weeks, we will continue improving it ahead of the final presentation.