Data Visualization Practitioners' Perspectives on Chartjunk
This addresses the gap in understanding practitioner perspectives on chartjunk, though it is incremental as it builds on prior work on visual embellishments.
The study investigated how data visualization practitioners understand and use chartjunk, revealing a pluralistic view and personal factors influencing design decisions.
Chartjunk is a popular yet contentious topic. Previous studies have shown that extreme minimalism is not always best, and that visual embellishments can be useful depending on the context. While more knowledge is being developed regarding the effects of embellishments on users, less attention has been given to the perspectives of practitioners regarding how they design with embellishments. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 data visualization practitioners, investigating how they understand chartjunk and the factors that influence how and when they make use of embellishments. Our investigation uncovers a broad and pluralistic understanding of chartjunk among practitioners, and foregrounds a variety of personal and situated factors that influence the use of chartjunk beyond context. We highlight the personal nature of design practice, and discuss the need for more practice-led research to better understand the ways in which concepts like chartjunk are interpreted and used by practitioners.