Interactive visual study for residential energy consumption data

Interactive data visualization tools for residential energy data are instrumental indicators for analyzing end user behavior. These visualizations can be used as continuous home feedback systems and can be accessed from mobile devices using touch-based applications. Visualizations have to be carefully selected in order for them to partake in the behavioral transformation that end users are encouraged to adopt. In this paper, six energy data visualizations are evaluated in a randomized controlled trial fashion to determine the optimal data visualization tool. Conventional visualizations, namely bar, line, and stacked area, are compared against enhanced charts, namely spiral, heatmap, and stacked bar, in terms of effectiveness, aesthetic, understandability, and three analysis questions. The study is conducted through a questionnaire in a mobile application. The application, created through React Native, is circulated to participants in multiple countries, collecting 133 responses. From the received responses, conventional plots scored higher understandability (by 22.74%), effectiveness (by 13.44%), and aesthetic (by 10.54%) when compared with the enhanced visualizations. On the flipside, enhanced plots generated higher correct analysis questions' responses by 8% compared to the conventional counterparts. From the 133 collected responses, and after applying the unpaired t-test, conventional energy data visualization plots are considered superior in terms of understandability, effectiveness, and aesthetic.

Automated summary

This paper evaluates six energy data visualization tools to determine the optimal tool. The feedback collected through a questionnaire survey shows that conventional visualizations scored higher in terms of understandability, effectiveness, and aesthetic, while enhanced charts performed better in generating correct responses to analysis questions.