Visual User Interfaces

David Rashty

“Grasping the whole is a gigantic theme. Arguably, intellectual history’s most important. Ant-vision is humanity’s usual fate; but seeing the whole is every thinking person’s aspiration.”

David Gelernter

Introduction

• The huge amount of information available through the Internet demands increasing efforts to the development of more intuitive and obvious ways of organizing, presenting and retrieving information.

• Alternative (non-textual) user interfaces are now maturing due to market conditions and the availability of support technologies.

Vision

• Positive feelings about user interfaces:– Control of the interface;– Being able to perform tasks;– Ease in learning the system and confidence in

the capacity to retain acquired knowledge; – Enjoyment in using the system;– Desire to explore further.

Definition

Visual user interfacesemphasize visual elements, direct manipulation and functionality in the presentation of information.

Main elements

• Task oriented designThe interface is the medium through which users achieve their objectives.

• Direct manipulationFeeling of direct interaction with objects rather than working through an intermediary.

Capabilities

• The basic capabilities visual interfaces offer are:– Enable a global view of the data collection;– Focusing on specific elements;– Filtering undesirable information;– Viewing relationships between elements,

finding patterns in the information space.

Applications

• Searching and browsing information spaces;• Retrieval of information from databases;• Presentation of massive amount of data in

intuitive ways;• Computer Aided Design;• High resolution images of the human body;• Digital libraries.

Classification

• Ben Shneidernman proposes a taxonomy to identify visual interfaces:– 1D: Linear data, text, lists.

– 2D: Planar data, images, maps.

– 3D: Volumetric data, 3D images, solid models.

– Temporal: Timelines, histories.

– Multi-dimensional: Many attributes, relational, statistical.

– Hierarchical: Trees.

– Network: Graphs.

Text, 2D, 3D

Taken from the Acm digital library

Comparison of visualization methods according to task completion in seconds. 3D interfaces supercedes others in all categories.

Text, 2D, 3D

• Mean time to fulfill a task versus the number of sessions for different visualization methods:– Time for 3D and 2D

interfaces diminishes considerably while for textual interfaces time increases.

Taken from the Acm digital library

Text, 2D, 3D

• The mean time to complete tasks versus computer experience.– Time for 3D and 2D

interfaces diminishes considerably while for textual interfaces time remains constant.

Taken from the Acm digital library

Pros and Cons

• Less syntax reduces error rates;

• Analogies help to prevent errors;

• Faster learning and higher retention;

• Fosters exploration and learning.

• Increased system resources;

• Misunderstandings are common;

• Tracing actions may be difficult;

• Visually impaired users.

Example – Inxight

• Automatic site map generator. Users get a general view of the information space and have a feeling of the inherent connectivity of the data in the site.

Click once on the picture to see a movie

Example – Inxight

• Visual organization and presentation of complex databases in an intuitive and easy to understand way.

Example – Plumbdesign

• Interactive thesaurus presenting relationships of words in the English language in an intuitive and flexible user-directed display.

Example – Bacardi

• Bacardi’s interface fosters interactivity and exploration suchthat users can learn about the history qualities of Bacardi.

Example – The Brain

• The visual element in this browser facilitates navigation and gives a sense of direction that helps the user to find the information he is looking for.

Example – Spotfire

• A visual approach to information retrieval and presentation. The graph represents a huge amount of data that would be difficult to conceptualizein other ways.

Conclusion

• Visual interfaces are a new visual design paradigm for turning meaningless information into relevant items according to users needs.

• Enabling users to deal with information in a more natural way will enhance human computer interaction and even the way people interact with each other.

References

• www.acm.org: technical articles.• www.cs.umd.edu/projects/hcil: Ben Shneiderman • Companies:

– www.spotfire.com      

– www.plumbdesign.com       – www.inxight.com 

– www.thebrain.com

– www.thinkmap.com