I never considered colour-blindness before, so thanks for those links, Job.
On Wed, 24 May 2017, 11:36 Emile Aben, <emile.a...@ripe.net> wrote: > Hi Job, > > Thanks for your detailed feedback. We'll take that into account in > further developments around the tool. Remember this is a prototype (code > is available at: https://github.com/emileaben/ixp-country-jedi ). If you > have a colour scheme that you think would work better for all cases, you > can submit a pull request there. Or we can work together on improving > this in a mini-code-sprint sometime soon? > > Couloring IXPs as green was done because this tool was initially > developed in an IXP context; it was presented at EURO-IX and Netnod > meetings, and my understanding was that the IXPs would favour paths > going over the IXP. I think you are correct in pointing out that this is > not necessarily the right thing to do in all contexts. > > There is already work underway to look at direct vs. indirect > interconnections in the tool. Our research intern Petros Gkigkis is > going to show a sneak preview of that at the upcoming GRNOG meeting ( > https://www.grnog.gr/?lang=en ) this Friday. > > And of course there will be RIPE Labs articles about further > developments like this. So keep an eye out at https://labs.ripe.net :) > > kind regards, > Emile Aben > RIPE NCC > > > On 24/05/17 15:15, Job Snijders wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > TL;DR - red/green color palettes should be avoided in data > > visualiations, please pick something else! > > > > Yesterday I saw Christian Teuschel present on the "Jedi" tool at SINOG, > > and two things stood out: > > > > A) the data visualisations do not attempt to accomodate for people > > who are color blind, in fact, the worst colors possible were > > picked > > > > B) by using using common traffic light colors (green, orange, red) > > an implicit judgement is made on the meaning of the data (traffic > > crossing an internet exchange was seemingly favored over private > > peering) > > > > To point (A) - red–green color blindness which affect a substantial > > portion of the human population. In the US, about 7 percent of the male > > population (or about 10.5 million men) and 0.4 percent of the female > > population either cannot distinguish red from green, or see red and > > green differently from how others do (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, > > 2006). There are quite some pointers as to how to design color palettes > > which accomodate everyone. > > > > > http://www.somersault1824.com/tips-for-designing-scientific-figures-for-color-blind-readers/ > > http://blog.usabilla.com/how-to-design-for-color-blindness/ > > > > B) As I understand the "Jedi" tool, it shows matrixes of what traffic > > between atlas probes leaves the country, and what traffic remains within > > the country - offering insight into a reflection on a country's internal > > routing arrangements. I'm a big fan of keeping local traffic local, so > > the tool certainly has value. > > > > However, the tool displays traffic which passes over an IXP within the > > country as green, and traffic that says within the country but didn't > > cross an IXP as "orange". Since the majority of internet traffic flows > > over direct, private interconnections between ASNs, signifying that > > traffic as "orange", has the potential to be taken as a "wrong", rather > > then as an arbitrary datapoint. I suggest that the Jedi tool either uses > > the same color for ixp and non-ixp "within country" traffic (and perhaps > > a small icon is used to signify the additional data attribute that an > > IXP was observed in the traceroute), or that the jedi tool uses entirely > > arbitrary colors that have no inherent meaning like the traffic light > > colors do. > > > > Kind regards, > > > > Job > > > > >
