Distributed Synchronous Visualization Design: Challenges and Strategies

TL;DR

This paper reflects on the challenges and strategies of designing COVID-19 data visualizations in a distributed synchronous environment during the pandemic, highlighting remote collaboration techniques and tools.

Contribution

It provides an auto-ethnographic account of designing visualizations remotely, offering insights into effective strategies for synchronous distributed collaboration during COVID-19.

Findings

Remote collaboration tools can effectively support visualization design.

Physical and digital artifacts can be integrated to enhance remote teamwork.

Strategies for preserving co-located collaboration qualities remotely are identified.

Abstract

We reflect on our experiences as designers of COVID-19 data visualizations working in a distributed synchronous design space during the pandemic. This is especially relevant as the pandemic posed new challenges to distributed collaboration amidst civic lockdown measures and an increased dependency on spatially distributed teamwork across almost all sectors. Working from home being 'the new normal', we explored potential solutions for collaborating and prototyping remotely from our own homes using the existing tools at our disposal. Since members of our cross-disciplinary team had different technical skills, we used a range of synchronous remote design tools and methods. We aimed to preserve the richness of co-located collaboration such as face-to-face physical presence, body gestures, facial expressions, and the making and sharing of physical artifacts. While meeting over Zoom, we sketched on paper and used digital collaboration tools, such as Miro and Google Docs. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, we articulate our challenges and strategies throughout the process, providing useful insights about synchronous distributed collaboration.