Narrative flow activity

In this activity, you’ll take some time think about how your reader will move through your explorable explanation.

Background

• Segel & Heer, “Narrative Visualization: Telling Stories with Data” (PDF) — pay attention to:
  • the seven genres (magazine style, annotated chart, partitioned poster, flowchart, comic strip, slideshow, film/animation)
  • the author-driven ↔ reader-driven spectrum, and the three common structures they identify (Martini Glass, Interactive Slideshow, Drill-Down Story)
  • Examples library: — pick 1–2 that feel close to what you’re going for.
    • Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve”. Harry Stevens. Washington Post.
    • The Hidden Cost of Digital Consumption. Halden Lin, Aishwarya Nirmal, Shobhit Hathi, and Lilian Liang.
    • 512 Paths to the White House. Mike Bostock and Shan Carter. New York Times archive.
    • Bicycle. Bartosz Ciechanowski.
    • Visualizing MBTA Data: An interactive exploration of Boston’s subway system. Mike Barry and Brian Card.
    • See other examples at explorabl.es or The Pudding.

Task

A few sentences per prompt is fine.

1. Thesis. What’s your explorable explanation about? Specifically what are you trying to persuade the reader of? This goes beyond the high-level description of your topic that you submitted in your initial proposal.
2. Genres. Which Segel & Heer genre(s) best describe your planned piece? You don’t have to pick exactly one; you may describe a combination if that’s what fits your topic. Or, if you think your topic doesn’t sit comfortably in their taxonomy, say so and explain why.
3. Narrative flow. Where does your piece sit on the author-driven ↔ reader-driven spectrum, and roughly how does the reader move through it? Name the specific tactics you plan to use (e.g., how you’ll order things, where you’ll hand control to the reader, how you’ll guide transitions).
4. Inspiration. Link to 1–2 specific examples of explorables or interactive articles that you are using as inspiration. For each, name a concrete tactic it uses and say whether you’ll borrow it, adapt it, or deliberately do something different.

Turn in

Submit your team’s write-up in Canvas and be prepared to discuss your submission with me.