Sizing up visualizations: effects of display size in focus+context, overview+detail, and zooming interfaces

TY - GEN

T1 - Sizing up visualizations

T2 - 29th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

AU - Jakobsen, Mikkel Rønne

AU - Hornbæk, Kasper

N1 - Conference code: 29

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - Whereas the literature is clear on the benefits of large displays and visualizations, little is known about their combination, that is, how display size affect the usability of visualizations. We describe a controlled experiment where 19 participants used focus+context, overview+detail, and zooming techniques with varying display sizes (13.8, 1.5, and 0.17 megapixels). Participants navigated geographical maps to find specific locations, compare items, and follow routes. Results show that for multi-scale navigation, classic interactive visualization techniques did not benefit from being scaled to a large display: In contrast to the literature we find similar performance on medium and large displays. Across display sizes, overview+detail works the best, in particular for comparing items. Focus+context is relatively more difficult to use at a small display size. We explain these findings and discuss the design of interactive visualization techniques for large displays.

AB - Whereas the literature is clear on the benefits of large displays and visualizations, little is known about their combination, that is, how display size affect the usability of visualizations. We describe a controlled experiment where 19 participants used focus+context, overview+detail, and zooming techniques with varying display sizes (13.8, 1.5, and 0.17 megapixels). Participants navigated geographical maps to find specific locations, compare items, and follow routes. Results show that for multi-scale navigation, classic interactive visualization techniques did not benefit from being scaled to a large display: In contrast to the literature we find similar performance on medium and large displays. Across display sizes, overview+detail works the best, in particular for comparing items. Focus+context is relatively more difficult to use at a small display size. We explain these findings and discuss the design of interactive visualization techniques for large displays.

U2 - 10.1145/1978942.1979156

DO - 10.1145/1978942.1979156

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 978-1-4503-0228-9

SP - 1451

EP - 1460

BT - The 29th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

Y2 - 7 May 2011 through 12 May 2011

ER -