Implementation

The past few weeks have been all about trying to bring to life our earlier sketches. For this implementation, multiple different approaches have been explored in order to get a feel of the data and begin with the actual visualizations. The main methods used in the current visualization are D3 and python, but other options will be further investigated in order to find the method best suited to visualize set research questions.

Over Time

For the visualization of the number of terrorist attacks over time, the proposed sketch was decomposed in two parts: a circular bar chart for plotting the timelines of terrorist attacks, and a nested donut chart for the distribution of the type of attacks and the success ratio of an attack. Python was used for all over time visualizations.

The circular bar chart indicates the distribution of successes and non-successes of an attack for a particular region from 1970 onwards. In the visualization above (or below, depends on where the image will be put) this was visualized for the region Eastern Europe. The dark blue color bar depicts the number of successes in a year for a specific region and similarly, the number of non-successes are denoted in light blue color.

The nested donut chart consists of two rings indicating the overall number of successes overall and the distribution of the types of attacks. The outer ring shows the proportion of different types of attacks committed by terrorist organizations in a region (this region is the same as the circular bar chart region), and this for all attacks recorded since 1970. The inner ring corresponds to the percentage of success of attacks of all attacks committed in that same region for all attacks recorded from 1970 onward.

In an effort to execute our first visual design, we have divided it into two parts: a circular bar chart for plotting the timeline and a nested donut chart for distribution of type of attacks & success/non-success.

The first part, a circular bar chart, indicates the distribution of successes and non-successes of an attack in a particular region (here: Eastern Europe) from 1970 onwards. The dark blue color bar depicts the number of successes in a year for a specific region and similarly, the number of non-successes are denoted in light blue color.

The second part, the nested donut chart, has two rings. The outer ring shows the proportion of different types of attacks committed by terrorist organizations in a particular region. The inner ring corresponds to the percentage of success of attacks.

The next step in the implementation of this design will be to unravel how to merge the above two diagrams.

The visualization was also attempted in D3 but still exists in the early implementation phase. This chart has the correct margins, but the information in the bar charts isn’t stacked in the correct way.

By Region

The visualization for the region turned out to be more challenging, meaning implementation is rather limited. Utilizing D3 to map geographical coordinates of the dataset, terrorist attacks in the decade 1970–1979 are plotted, with darker lines resembling more recent events. A lot remains missing including the map projection and interactive pie chart tooltip.