A framework for designing user-centered data visualizations in smart city technologies

Abstract

Smart city technologies help to manage shared urban resources like road space, energy, water, and food more efficiently. With the vast amount of data these technologies generate, data visualization has become a crucial component for presenting critical information in a clear and condensed manner. However, designing data visualizations can be a challenging task, it requires applying data visualization guidelines for effective visual codification and user-centered design guidelines to design usable dashboards. The aim of this paper is to draw a comprehensive vision of the data visualization design process in smart city systems by integrating guidelines of data visualization and user-centered design into a framework. This paper presents a novel user-centered data visualization framework for smart city technologies. The framework offers a structured approach to understanding the intricacies of visualization design processes and guides the development from a user-centered perspective. It integrates activities, techniques, instruments, and guidelines for developing user-centered visualizations in smart city technologies. The proposed framework’s content was validated through expert judgment and tested in a case study for the development of the Xalapa Commerce, Services, and Tourism Dashboard.