Change We Can Visualize

Determining who our users are is an important first step before creating an information visualization. For us, this step was a little difficult as we have not yet decided which data set to use for our visualizations. This means that depending on the dataset we choose, our target users may change. Nonetheless, we decided to create personas to clarify our assumptions about who we think right now our users will be, if we broadly consider the users who are interested in information about government spending.

One of our first decisions we made was that we would like to target a wider range of the population than just the small group of people who are interested in governement transparency issues. We would like our visualization to be understandable and interesting to a wide range of people. Thus, our personas reflect this goal.

Overall, after creating these personas, a few things about our users were made clear to us:

• Our users are lay users who do not possess detailed knowledge about data analysis or visualization; as such our visualization will need to be easily understandable and easy to manipulate
• Our users will likely use our visualization for short periods of time and only occasionally; thus we want the “big idea” to be clear at a glance, and methods for data exploration to be obvious.

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Marie Park
Age – 24
Occupation – graphic designer

Education – Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, Rhode Island School of Design
Family – Single, no children

Goals
•    Learn about how the government operates
•    Learn how her taxes are being spent
•    Get involved with politics and make a difference

Marie is a recent college graduate, and has been working as a graphic designer since she graduated.  She spent a lot of the past year transitioning from her college lifestyle to an adult, fully employed lifestyle.  The biggest difficulty for her has been learning how to budget her money, especially setting aside enough for taxes.  When she received her first paycheck, she was shocked how much her income tax was.  She now understands why her parents complain so much about taxes.

Marie’s understanding about the “real world” has been coupled with a growing interest in politics.  She was entirely apathetic politics during college and didn’t even vote in 2004, but she started following the 2008 presidential campaign very closely.  She was thrilled to follow Barack Obama’s path to the White House, and feels that by voting for him, she helped make a difference in the history of America.

Now that Marie understands a little bit about politics and the way that government works, she decides that she wants to know more.  In particular, she really wants to know where her tax dollars are going, especially after hearing so much campaign rhetoric about bridges to nowhere.  If she has to pay so much to the government, she wants to make sure that it’s going to programs that are worthwhile.  She also wants to be able to get in touch with her Congressmen if she’s not happy with it, and make a difference.

Marie is firmly within the Internet generation, and is used to turning to Yahoo and Google for her news, even at work.  Outside of work, Marie enjoys knitting and painting.  She loves playing with her pet Daschshund, Miley.  She spends her weekends either with her boyfriend Michael, or visiting her brother Richard in the East Village.

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Alan Marsters
Age - 58
Occupation - Production Line Manager at General Motors

Education - Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Wayne State University
Family - wife, Sharon, 53; children, Heather, 29, and Monica, 27

Goals

• Plan for early retirement
• Get as much data as he can about the financial crisis
• Follow the auto industry bailout and learn how the money is being spent

Alan, a long-time employee of General Motors, has recently been forced into early retirement due to GM’s financial difficulties.  He had been planning to retire in the near future, but isn’t quite as ready for retirement as he had wanted to be.  He has become quite unsure about his own future and the future of his whole family.  If GM fails, his pension could dry up entirely.  He needs to know how the auto industry bailout is progressing, and perhaps most importantly, what restrictions are placed on how GM can spend the money.

Alan is also uncertain about the economic climate in general.  He wants to know more about what his taxes have been paying for, and the latest on what measures Congress has introduced to alleviate the economic crisis.  He is upset that he has paid so much in taxes over his lifetime, only to see it all go to banks that couldn’t keep their accounts straight.  He wants to make sure his voice is heard and that hardworking folk like him don’t slip through the cracks.

Alan is a dedicated family man, and is very close to his two daughters, even though they are now married and starting families of their own.  He volunteers to maintain his church and do minor repairs as needed, and is also an amateur boat-builder.  He has had a lot of exposure to computers, but still has trouble understanding them sometimes.

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David Goldstein
Age - 32
Occupation - Congressional Aide

Education - Bachelor of Science in Political Science, Columbia University
Family - wife, Naomi, 27; son, Ari, 1

Goals

• Handle communications (phones and e-mails) from constituents
• Keep his Congressman informed as to the current opinion of constituents
• Get data to help his Congressman make the right decisions

David is the main aide to Representative Donald Bishop of New York State.  David handles most of the day-to-day operations for Representative Bishop, including speaking directly to constituents and helping him set an agenda.  David’s day consists of doing a lot of research about the status of the district in upstate NY that Bishop represents.  David himself was born and grew up in this district, so it means a lot to him personally to have such an in-depth understanding of everything that’s going on locally.

David has only been working in his current position for a few years, and this is his first presidential transition.  He’s finding it difficult to keep up with all the changes that are going on in Washington, and he wishes there were an easier way to keep track of everything that’s happening in Congress.  In particular, Representative Bishop has made it a priority to help out with the economy.  David must learn about the government’s current budget and what programs are underperforming.

Although David did not grow up with the Internet and computers the same way his younger friends did, he has learned to use computers with a high degree of proficiency as part of his job.  He loves the feeling of always being in touch.  David loves ice skating and biking around the hills of his district.