ContAQT: Designing an Interactive Data Display to Make Multi-Pollutant Air Quality Data Accessible

Paper Title

ContAQT: Designing an Interactive Data Display to Make Multi-Pollutant Air Quality Data Accessible

Publication Info

• Topic area: Interactive data visualization for public science communication.
• Keywords: Air Quality Index (AQI), multi-pollutant data, interactive visualization, learner-centered design (LCD), informal learning, public science communication, environmental literacy, data accessibility.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing tools for communicating air quality data oversimplify the information into a single Air Quality Index (AQI) value, obscuring the complexity of multi-pollutant data and leading to public misconceptions.
• Significance: Air pollution is a critical environmental health risk, and improving public understanding of air quality data can empower individuals to make informed decisions and take proactive actions to protect their health.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research highlights the limitations of single-pollutant AQI models and the challenges of scientific data visualization for public audiences. Existing tools often fail to bridge the gap between expert knowledge and novice understanding, particularly in informal learning environments.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The paper introduces ContAQT (Contextualized Air Quality Timelines), an interactive kiosk designed to make multi-pollutant air quality data accessible to novice users in informal learning spaces.
• Novelty:
  1. Identification of five learner-centered design (LCD) tensions in existing air quality communication tools.
  2. Development of three interactive visualization features (AQI Core Chart, AQI Timeline, AQI Calendar) to address these tensions.
  3. Iterative design and evaluation process to refine the system based on novice feedback and expert insights.
  4. Public evaluation of the system in real-world informal learning settings.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  1. Conducted surveys with novices and interviews with experts to identify pitfalls in existing AQI tools.
  2. Designed and iteratively refined three visualization features to address LCD tensions.
  3. Evaluated the system during a public science festival to assess its effectiveness in supporting novice exploration and sense-making.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • 59 comments were collected during public evaluations, revealing that the system clarified AQI concepts, inspired curiosity about data patterns, and prompted societal-level reasoning about air quality.
  • Iterative design improved usability and interpretability, with features like the AQI Core Chart, Timeline, and Calendar addressing specific LCD tensions.
  • Participants engaged in pattern recognition, contextual reasoning, and critical evaluation of visualization design.
• Advantage over baselines: ContAQT addressed key pitfalls of existing AQI tools by providing richer, more interpretable representations of multi-pollutant data, enabling novices to move beyond basic misunderstandings and engage in deeper inquiry.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Novice surveys (32 participants) and expert interviews (2 atmospheric scientists) informed the design.
  • Iterative in-lab evaluations with 13 participants refined the visualization features.
  • Public evaluation during a science festival involved approximately 180 participants interacting with the system.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited participant diversity in surveys and in-lab studies; future work will include broader demographic representation.
  • Current design focuses on individual exploration; future iterations will explore collaborative, multi-user interactions.
  • Need for structured evaluation of learning gains and long-term impact on environmental literacy.

Summary

This paper presents ContAQT, an interactive data visualization platform designed to make multi-pollutant air quality data accessible to novice users in informal learning spaces. By identifying key challenges in existing AQI communication tools and addressing them through iterative design, the system fosters inquiry and supports sense-making around complex environmental data. Public evaluations demonstrated that ContAQT clarified AQI concepts, inspired curiosity, and encouraged societal-level reasoning. The findings provide actionable design implications for creating accessible, engaging, and transparent scientific data visualizations, with potential applications in other domains like climate change and energy use.