”Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information.” - Edward R. Tufte
On Information
Guru: Edward R. Tufte
”Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information” Edward R. Tufte
Visualizing the editing history of Wikipedia pages - Viégas, Wattenberg & Dave or google “history flow” IBM
Graphic Tools
Choosing data... Show only relevant data –Otherwise: clutter Show only reliable data –Otherwise: distrust Most important data comes first / is more colorful / is larger / etc! Provide several views –Layering data vs not layering it
Information Visualization
”The use of computer- supported, interactive, visual representations of abstract data to amplify cognition” - Card, Mackinlay & Shneiderman
Zooming and lenses
Semantic Zoom When information changes (and typically gets richer) when zooming in.
Magic Lenses: Transparent - Different properties - Change view Toolglass and Magic Lenses. Bier, E., et al., 1993
The Document Lens G.G.Robertson and J.D.Mackinlay
Focus + Context
Focus + Context: To display the most important data at the focal point at full size and detail, and display the area around the focal point (the context) to help make sense of how the important information relates to the entire data structure. Regions far from the focal point may be displayed smaller (as in fisheye views) or selectively omitted.
Fisheye Views
Main issue: Distortion "Well....thanks to the lame ass security, I’m going home!" Axl W Rose, July Riverport Amphitheatre, St. Louis, Missouri,
Hyperbolic Geometry
Typically laid out in circles, or onto globes or hemispheres Focal point in the center The further from the center the smaller the items Allows angles or positions to stay constant when changing focus but not both... Hyperbolic geometry
Trees
Hierarchical tree v. 1
Hierarchical tree v.2
Disk tree
Cone tree...
Tree Map – node within node