A Guide to Visual Multi-Level Interface Design from Synthesis of Empirical Study Evidence

✍ Scribed by Heidi Lam, Tamara Munzner

• Publisher: Morgan & Claypool
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 117
• Series: Synthesis Lectures on Visualization, #1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Displaying multiple levels of data visually has been proposed to address the challenge of limited screen space. Although many previous empirical studies have addressed different aspects of this question, the information visualization research community does not currently have a clearly articulated consensus on how, when, or even if displaying data at multiple levels is effective. To shed more light on this complex topic, we conducted a systematic review of 22 existing multi-level interface studies to extract high-level design guidelines. To facilitate discussion, we cast our analysis findings into a four-point decision tree: (1) When are multi-level displays useful? (2) What should the higher visual levels display? (3) Should the different visual levels be displayed simultaneously, or one at a time? (4) Should the visual levels be embedded in a single display, or separated into multiple displays? Our analysis resulted in three design guidelines: (1) the number of levels in display and data should match; (2) high visual levels should only display task-relevant information; (3) simultaneous display, rather than temporal switching, is suitable for tasks with multi-level answers. Table of Contents: Introduction / Terminology / Methodology / Summary of Studies / Decision 1: Single or Multi-level Interface? / Decision 2: How to Create the High-Level Displays? / Decision 3: Simultaneous or Temporal Displays of the Multiple Visual Levels / Decision 4: How to Spatially Arrange the Visual Levels, Embedded or Separate? / Limitations of Study / Design Recommendations / Discussion and Future Work

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgments......Page 11
Figure Credits......Page 13
Introduction......Page 17
Terminology......Page 21
Study approach......Page 25
Study result presentation......Page 27
Related work......Page 28
Summary of Studies......Page 29
Interaction costs from usage patterns......Page 31
Interaction costs from participant strategies......Page 32
Interaction costs from participants' interface choices......Page 33
Single-level task-relevant data may not be suited for multi-level displays......Page 34
Multi-level interfaces showed adverse effects......Page 35
Summary of considerations in choosing between a single or a multi-level interface......Page 36
Having too many visual levels may hinder performance......Page 37
Compare between high-level displays with different amounts of visual information......Page 39
Compare between high- and low-level displays......Page 41
Displaying information is not sufficient; information has to be perceivable......Page 43
A priori automatic filtering may be a double-edged sword......Page 45
Filtering may cause disorientation and distrust......Page 46
Supported: high-level views in separate interfaces provide navigation shortcuts......Page 47
Open: high-level regions in separate interfaces provide data meaning......Page 48
Summary of considerations in high-level display creations......Page 49
Tasks with multi-level answers benefited from simultaneous displays of visual levels......Page 51
Tasks with multi-level information clues benefited from simultaneous display of visual levels......Page 53
Tasks with single-level information clues may be better with temporal switching......Page 54
Considerations in choosing between temporal switching or simultaneous display of the visual levels......Page 55
Decision 4: How to Spatially Arrange the Visual Levels, Embedded or Separate?......Page 57
The issue of distortion......Page 60
Considerations in spatially arranging the various visual levels......Page 62
Limited analysis scope......Page 63
Qualitative recommendations......Page 64
Provide relevant, sufficient, and necessary information in high-level displays to support context use......Page 65
Simultaneous display of visual levels for multi-level answers or clues......Page 66
Discussion and Future Work......Page 67
Reviewed Studies: Interfaces, Tasks, Data and Results......Page 69
[FCScreen] Keeping Things in Context: A Comparative Evaluation of Focus Plus Context Screens, Overviews and Zooming......Page 70
[Fishnet] Fishnet, a Fisheye Web Browser with Search Term Popouts: a Comparative Evaluation with Overview and Linear View......Page 72
[DateLens] DateLens: A Fisheye Calendar Interface for PDAs......Page 74
[ScatterPlot] User Interaction with Scatterplots On Small Screens—A Comparative Evaluation of Geometric-Semantic Zoom and Fisheye Distortion......Page 76
[ElideSrc] Hidden Messages: Evaluating the Efficiency of Code Elision in Program Navigation......Page 78
[FishSteer] Fisheye Views are Good for Large Steering Tasks......Page 80
[BigOnSmall] Interacting with Big Interfaces on Small Screens: a Comparison of Fisheye, Zoom, and Panning Techniques......Page 82
[eDoc] Reading of electronic documents: the usability of linear, fisheye and overview + detail interfaces and Reading Patterns and Usability in Visualization of Electronic Documents......Page 84
[ZuiNav] Navigation Patterns and Usability of Zoomable User Interfaces with and without an Overview......Page 86
[FishMenu] Untangling the Usability of Fisheye Menus......Page 88
[FishSrc] Evaluating a Fisheyes of Source Code......Page 90
[SumThum] Summary Thumbnails: Readable Overviews for Small Screen Web Browsers......Page 92
[LineGr] Overview Use in Multiple Visual Information Resolution Interfaces......Page 93
[RubNav] An Evaluation of Pan and Zoom and Rubber Sheet Navigation......Page 94
[Snap] Snap-together Visualization: Can Users Construct and Operate Coordinated Visualizations......Page 96
[InfoScent] The Effects of Information Scent on Visual Search in the Hyperbolic Tree Browser......Page 98
[SpaceTree] SpaceTree: Supporting Exploration in Large Node Link Tree, Design Evolution and Empirical Evaluation......Page 99
[VisMem] Zooming, Multiple Windows, and Visual Working Memory......Page 101
[TimeGr] Visualization of Graphs with Associated Timeseries Data......Page 103
[FishRadar] A Comparison of Traditional and Fisheye Radar View Techniques for Spatial Collaboration......Page 105
[FishNav] Navigating Hierarchically Clustered Networks through Fisheye and Full-Zoom Methods......Page 106
[SpaceFill] An Evaluation of Content Browsing Techniques for Hierarchical Space-Filling Visualizations......Page 108
Bibliography......Page 111
Authors' Biographies......Page 117