Displaying Values/Booleans/Enums and Comparing Data

Displaying Values vs Booleans vs Enums

Depending on the nature of the value and how users want to interpret it, display types will differ as well - monitoring trends vs exact values
e.g. current speed, voltages, current
Looking at Near East’s dashboard as an example, they have displayed values in three different ways. There are exact values to the right side of the dashboard, graphs are includes to show trends in the bus currents and also values are displayed in the CMU status.
For exact values
- Limit it to a clearly labelled and displayed number
- For better grouping (such as all the battery cell voltages or temperatures) stacking them like so might better utilize the given area. Colour coded if there is an outlier?
- For a more prominent display, such as an averaged value, outliers such as highest/lowest values, or speed, the larger number makes it stand out (this is seen on the Near East dashboard).
For trends
- The best way to display trends is through line graphs. While monitoring the trends is important, there should be a feature where specific point can be selected and the value indicated.
- I like this, where guide lines are included to pinpoint the x and y axes.
- This is another example if we are displaying multiple values on a single graph. A specific time can be highlighted, and the exact values of all of the lines should be displayed in a popup.

Booleans can be displayed primarily using colours ( red or green) as colours are a pretty universal indicator of true/false.
An alternative to red or green could just be light or no light
Here is an example of a symbol which lights up - too many different symbols is confusing and users won’t necessarily know what they mean but its a possibility (symbol for e-brake engaged or something)
Another method is to include a visualized switch where it can be switched on/off
Specific booleans such as the faults only need to be displayed if true, and in that case, can appear as a text banner for the fault (will get into this in the enum)

I think the primary enums which we will be encountering are faults and drive states
Drive states - Letters associated with each drive state (also seen on the Near East dashboard above)
- Users need to know what each letter is associated with
Enums could be displayed as banners, status boxes, or a combination of both
This is an example of an expandable status log. Most status updates will not be useful until they actually occur so they shouldn’t take up a consistent space on the dash.
They should also be easily accessible in the case where something does happen, so an alert icon can remain at a certain location on the screen.

Data will most commonly be compared by looking at trends instead of exact values, so I’ll focus more on comparing graphs.
Have an add graph feature?
Top-Bottom Stacking (same x-axis)
- Could be stacked like an oscilloscope. Stacking the two graphs is best for comparing data over a series of time as it allows us to compare trends.
- It is important to have a common reference point for the graphs where a user can highlight a time and a vertical line will appear for each graph.
- I think that time will be the most common x-axis so top-bottom stacking should be the default format when comparing the graphs
- [image below]
Side-By-Side Stacking (Same y-axis) (Or neither axis is the same)
- Side-by-side probably isn’t as useful but if we are comparing datasets where it is more difficult to compare the units (voltage at a specific time, for example), then users may prefer it.
Multi-Series (Same x and y axes)
- Area graphs are really good for comparing two lines. When communicating overall trends, the difference in colours emphasizes the amount of increase/decrease. Also blocks in the difference between the different values.
- Here is an example of a multi-series plot which toggles between a graph and table format.

Exact values could be displayed in a table format
Good for specific subjects where we care about all their associated values - voltage, temperature, etc.