Wi-fi Waves

I like it. It is short, to the point, and expresses the usage and flow of wifi on campus in an intuitive way. Specifically, it utilizes colors that we often associate with "good", "bad", or "medium".

It would help, though, to know what exactly you would like to convey to the user on a deeper level if they do happen to click on a wi-fi spot

I glanced at your picture before reading, and I was able to correctly guess what everything meant before I went back and read your description. To me, that's a very good indicator that you've got a good visualization. However, one worry I have is overlap. In a real world setting, there are usually quite a few wireless networks to connect to in any one place, and even for a single network there are usually many access points, especially in buildings with multiple floors. This could potentially cause a lot of clutter and make reading the map difficult.

I think you picked up on a design that is completely necessary, and I think you designed it well. The layperson could certainly use it. I also liked how your design has fuzzy lines which represents weaker spots. You're using characteristics that people normally associate with one another which is really cool and seems to be effective. Could there potentially be some sort of pop-up box if you hover over a hostpot? That way, you may be able to convey more information to the user, including whether several hotspots are sitting on top of each other in a large building or not.

This map presents lots of data in one single and organized graph, which will be very clear and helpful to the users. However, my concern is similar to Jacob, since in real life lots of wifi are around, even wifi from personal cell phone. How do you choose which wifi to show on the graph? For example, when you sit beside a person who has a personal cell phone wifi that he can share(restricted access), his wifi signal should be the best one. But is this wifi going to be on the map?

@Jacob: Great point, I hadn't considered the amount of networks around. Perhaps one way to resolve this is to take the average/aggregate of multiple networks in the same area; then, when a user zooms in, the waves can split into the several different specific networks. I could even include a number near the lock icon indicating the number of networks in that location.

@Kristen: Good idea! I mentioned including a popover displaying details for a specific network (e.g. network name, security type, etc.), but it may also be useful to show the number of nearby networks. For the problem of several networks in a building (e.g. on different floors), zooming in far enough could switch to a 3D view (like Google Street View) that shows the elevated locations as well as geographical.

I think this is a great idea; it is useful, and makes it easy to compare data (that is, different hotspots). I really like the idea of the 3D view for buildings with several floors-- otherwise it could be incredibly difficult to figure out where the signal would be strongest in a building of, say, 30 floors where the Wi-fi originates from the 12th floor. I also think it could be interesting to implement a feature to observe the bandwidth usage over time!

This is a very useful visualization that I would love be see implemented one day! One thing I would also like to see in the visualization is the range of the wi-fi signal. For example, sometimes when I'm just outside the door of Wean, I cannot get any wi-fi signal. It would be nice to know where the dead spaces for wi-fi are and the regions I need to be at to get wi-fi.

Great job presenting the information! Considering the amount and type of feedback that you received, it seems like you have found something that is necessary at CMU. Your careful response to the feedback is also going to be good practice as you move forward.

Some things to consider:
-- look a little further into what it means to need a "map of wifi." This could inform how you present the information, and may be a little more initially engaging to the audience.