Evaluation of traditional, orthogonal, and radial tree diagrams by an eye tracking study

© 2011 IEEE

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics. - 1996. - 17(2011), 12 vom: 01. Dez., Seite 2440-8
1. Verfasser: Burch, Michael (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Heinrich, Julian, Konevtsova, Natalia, Höferlin, Markus, Weiskopf, Daniel
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2011
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics
Schlagworte:Evaluation Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:© 2011 IEEE
Node-link diagrams are an effective and popular visualization approach for depicting hierarchical structures and for showing parent-child relationships. In this paper, we present the results of an eye tracking experiment investigating traditional, orthogonal, and radial node-link tree layouts as a piece of empirical basis for choosing between those layouts. Eye tracking was used to identify visual exploration behaviors of participants that were asked to solve a typical hierarchy exploration task by inspecting a static tree diagram: finding the least common ancestor of a given set of marked leaf nodes. To uncover exploration strategies, we examined fixation points, duration, and saccades of participants' gaze trajectories. For the non-radial diagrams, we additionally investigated the effect of diagram orientation by switching the position of the root node to each of the four main orientations. We also recorded and analyzed correctness of answers as well as completion times in addition to the eye movement data. We found out that traditional and orthogonal tree layouts significantly outperform radial tree layouts for the given task. Furthermore, by applying trajectory analysis techniques we uncovered that participants cross-checked their task solution more often in the radial than in the non-radial layouts
Beschreibung:Date Completed 24.02.2012
Date Revised 10.12.2019
published: Print
Citation Status MEDLINE
ISSN:1941-0506
DOI:10.1109/TVCG.2011.193