INFO201 Problem Set: interactive web app
February 26, 2023
Instructions
In this problem set you are asked to do create a shiny app–a similar app as what you are going to
make for your final project. You should a) make the github repo; b) create the app; and c) publish
the app on shinyapps.io.
In this task, you can use any dataset of your choice (feel free to use what you plan to use for the
final project). If you do not have good ideas, you can use UAH lower troposphere data (UAH-lowertroposphere-long.csv.bz2 on canvas), see https://bitbucket.org/otoomet/data/src/master/nature/
for the variable definitions.
You may use both single- or multiple file setup.
1 Your tasks
Your task is to build your own shiny application. The application should provide the user with the
ability to interactively explore the dataset you chose. What the application looks like is up to you,
but see the sample app https://otoomet.shinyapps.io/uah-lower-troposphere/.
The visualization can be made with base R graphics, ggplot2, plotly, leaflet for maps or something else. While we don’t expect you to create anything ground-breaking, we do expect you to
create a clear visualization with proper labels and titles. And of course, the graphic needs to react
to changing values in the widgets.
Requirements:
1. You have at least three sets of pages (e.g. using tabsetPanel). One page (the opening page)
displays the general information about the dataset, another page displays a plot, and the third
page displays a table.
2. The plot and table page use either the sidebar layout, or another more complex layout (e.g.
columns) that allows you to put the widgets and the rendered output next to each other.
Just putting everything underneath each other is not OK.
3. The tab and plot page have a side panel in which you’ve created at least two widgets that
change the visual output in your application, such as type of the plot, or data displayed on
the x or y axis of a scatterplot.
Note: I mean a side panel but it does not have to be sidebarLayout.
4. The main panel of these pages displays data (as a plot or a table).
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5. When you start the app, it should show explanatory text about your dataset and the app on
the main panel. It may be very brief. No separate sidebars and no interactivity is needed
here.
6. The explanatory text uses at least two html text formatting markers, such as strong(), em()
or similar (raw html is OK too).
See https://faculty.washington.edu/otoomet/info201-book/shiny.html#shiny-ui-text.
7. For both plot and table, there is at least one widget that allows the user to modify the values
on screen. This may include filtering or some sort of computations. Just changing color is not
enough.
8. The plot also includes a widget that allows one to change the visuals only, leaving data
untouched.
See https://faculty.washington.edu/otoomet/info201-book/shiny.html#shiny-server-reactive
9. The plot is appropriately labeled. This can be achieved either through ggplot() (or plot()
if you wish) or through the layout elements.
10. Both plot and table page must also include some textual output that reacts to a widget, such
as the number of non-missing observations, or the overall average value. For instance “Selected
subset contains 1234 observations” is such a sentence, given 1234 is derived from the actual
(subset of) data.
11. You must push your application up to the shinyapps.io server (or another server if you like),
making it publicly available.
12. The uploaded should work on shinyapps, not crash!
Note: this means you need to upload data, and ensure you use correct relative path!
13. Your github repo should include a readme file that contains a brief “user documentation” of
your project: a brief description of the data, and explanation what are the widgets and panels
doing. This file should contain a link to your project on the https://www.shinyapps.io
server.
14. As submission, submit the link to your github repo to canvas.
We hope that when you finish this project, you will good to go and start your final shiny
applications!
2 Grading
In total 100 points
• (10pt) The app contains three different tabs or similar layout elements.
• (15pt) the opening page
– (5pt) Includes appropriate explanatory text
– (5pt) Contains figures, calculated from data
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– (5pt) Contains HTML text formatting
• (35pt) plot panel
– (6pt) Contains sidebar and the main panel
– (7pt) Sidebar contains a widget that modifies values
– (8pt) Sidebar contains a widget the modifies visuals only
– (7pt) Plot is appropriately labeled
– (7pt) Plot includes a text summary that is computed of data (and changes reacts to the
widget)
• (20pt) table panel
– (6pt) Contains sidebar and the main panel
– (7pt) Sidebar contains a widget that changes data
– (7pt) Table includes a text summary that is computed of data (and changes reacts to
the widget)
• (20pt) Publishing
– Link available, app works as intended on shinyapps.io.
Finally tell us how many hours did you spend on this PS.
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