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. • Distributed a questionnaire about energy data visualization built in a mobile app. • Enhanced charts in the energy field have been created. • Comparison between enhanced and conventional energy visualization charts is applied. • Quantitative and qualitative questions asked in the questionnaire. • Received 133 participants' responses from multiple countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]