First, you should examine the data set you chose and formulate three analytic questions. Don't generate simple questions that could easily be answered by examining the data file in its raw form and extracting one value (ie, What is the horsepower of the Chevy Corvette?). Instead, try to generate queries that are more exploratory and complex.

Next, design a visualization of the data set that you feel would help an analyst to determine the answer to these queries. Sketch your visualization on paper. I'm not looking for a working system here or even a detailed representation where the actual data values are shown. Just do a conceptual design that shows what your visualization would look like if it was being applied on the data set in general. Try not to simply replicate some well-known infovis technique such as parallel coordinates, however. Be effective, but also try to be a little creative. Also, don't forget the interaction! A static piece of paper does not do justice to an interactive visualization, so you likely will need to explain how the viewer would interact with and update the display.

What to turn in: List your three analytic questions or queries. Draw/sketch/show your design on a separate piece of paper or a few pages (don't go overboard). Feel free to annotate the sketch with small comments or captions to explain what it is and how it would work. On a separate page, explain your visualization design in a paragraph or two.

Grading: First, we will evaluate the quality of your analytic questions. Interesting, thoughtful and non-trivial queries will be rewarded. Next, we will rate the quality of your design. Here, we are looking for both effectiveness and creativity. We also will examine how clearly and effectively you explain your design. Remember that communicating one's work is almost as important as the work itself. (We do realize that people have differing levels of design ability and experience. Here, we are looking for a good effort, not necessarily some InfoVis conference paper-worthy new idea.) The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with experience in the analysis of data like this and the design of visualizations to present the data.