Overview and Context: Data Exploration on Smart Watches

Data Exploration on Smart WatchesDr. Rachel MenziesUniversity of Dundee

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About MeHuman Computer Interaction / UXInterface design for Autism Spectrum Conditions and Intellectual DisabilitiesParticipatory design methods

Technologies for EducationTo support educationTo innovate

@Rachel_Menzies

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Guilty secretMostly consultancy rather than research.2

The Explosion of Mobile

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Explosion of mobile.Now we have the addition of wearable, such as smart watches. Much smaller than mobiles, which are now increasing in side (phablets)Less powerful than mobiles.3

Challenges of designing for small screensSmall screenFat-finger problemLimited screen real estate

Poor battery lifeLess than one day of solid use

One handed interaction

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Designing for Data VisualisationOverviewGeneral context

Zoom and FilterLimit the amount of info displayed

Details on DemandInteractive, maintain context

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Ben Schniedermann:

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Current Uses

TimerStocks

RuntasticNike+

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Stocks interaction is difficult requires clicking.6

Current Uses

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Uses by businesses:Japan Airlines send tasks to airline staff and locate staff via watch (allows controller to select the most appropriate staff member for each task.Virgin Atlanticuses smartwatches and google glass for concierge (1st class passengers) search for info requested by passengerSmartwatches and glasses for engineers, e.g. 1st person view, receive maintenance tasks

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BackgroundIncreased use of smart watches

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http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326427

http://www.statista.com/statistics/271405/global-mobile-data-traffic-forecast/Increased use of mobile data1 EB= 1 billion GB

2016 yr of smart watchHow may fitbit/jawbone?How many smart watches?8

Future UsesSmart home alerts When alerted, can I explore the data and decide how to respond?Places control in the hands of carers.

Biology labsProviding info to lab technicians

Sports trackingElite and casual athletes

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BT presenting data dashboards for care homes on different platforms how much data is enough?Electrograph soil sample9

How can we explore data on a very small screen?

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Exploring Data on a Large Screen

Must data exploration mean a dashboard?

Novice dashboard users prefer visualisations they are familiar with (bar charts, pie charts).

Grammel, Tory & Storey (2010). How information visualization novices construct visualizations. Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on, 16(6), pp943-952

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Affinity for pie charts commonly selected, even when guidelines suggest otherwise.11

Moving to smaller screensTablet

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/01/sports/worldcup/usa-belgium.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2

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Moving to smaller screensMobile Phone

http://www.brightpointinc.com/d3-mobile-web-application/

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Moving to smaller screensSmart Watches

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Where to focus first?Focus on Bar ChartsSimple visualisation already used on smartphonesVariations available on smart watches, e.g. Activity by Apple

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Identify shortfalls of current solutions e.g. Apple only useful if a few bars (current max = 3) what if there are many bars, e.g. one per day for a month, cannot customise dashboard.15

Focus GroupSome sketches drawn and presented to participantsn=5All used bar charts regularlyAll used touch screen devices at least daily

What is the most suitable interaction?Why?any new ideas?

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Took place at university16

6 Initial Solutions

One-by-One (Horizontal) Scrolling

One-by-One (Vertical) Scrolling

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6 Initial Solutions

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Horizontal scrolling is most natural. Its the same as scrolling through my photos

Vertical would be useful if the bars are flat. Otherwise it doesnt really make sense.

How many bars are there? I dont want to be scrolling all day. Can I set the number of bars I want to see?

6 Initial SolutionsFree Zoom

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This is most familiar but its boring. Smartwatches should be cool and interactive and new.

I dont like that I cant see the top of the bar. Its meaningless

6 Initial SolutionsFree Zoom with Fixed Axes

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This is good. I can presumably zoom in fairly far if I have bad eyesight and I see the axes.

6 Initial SolutionsGrid Zoom

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Too confusing I think. Youd need to remember stuff rather than maybe just look at it.

I dont like that second section. I dont know what bar it is and what the value is.

6 Initial SolutionsFish Eye

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I guess its good that I can see everything, but is it something I can actually use in my job? Not a chance. Everything will get distorted.

Focus Group ResultsUnanimous favourite was One-by-One (Horizontal).Small overview of the chart was useful.Suggested Favourites for easy comparison.

Also favoured Free Zoom with AxesFavoured being able to set custom zoom, but asked for overview.

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Fish Eye rejected non-uniform scaling makes it difficult to compare the bars23

Focus Group ResultsOverview:Being able to view the entire chart at all times.

Context:Knowing what the data you can currently see actually means, i.e. what value does it have?

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Initial StudyThree conditions rated most highly by focus group:One-by-One (Horizontal)Grid ZoomFree Zoom with Fixed Axes

Control condition:Free Zoom

Measures:Time to complete tasksAccuracyNASA TLX

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Draw the 4 conditions on a board.25

Initial StudyParticipants:n=14 (6 male, 8 female)Average age = 24yrs

Materials:Prototypes on iPhone (4cm screen width)Bar chart was pre-determined

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Participants:All interacted with bar charts regularly; 12 had previous knowledge of smart watches.Max age was 29 so a young crowd. Probably tech savvy.

Note labelling on y axis.

Tasks:Most stepsLeast stepsAverage number of steps

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Initial Study Results

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Task 1:Free Zoom w/ Fixed Axes significantly slower. No other significance.

Task 2:One-by-One sig faster than grid & free w/ axes.Free zoom sig faster than free w/ axes. No significance between top two.

Task 3:Grid Zoom significantly slower than others.No other significance.

Note: task 3: Free Zoom was fastest (by .86 sec). Maybe confounding axis. 27

Initial Study Results

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Initial Study Results

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One-by-one takes less effort for all except physical demand understandable as constantly swiping. But not the highest in that category by a long way.Grid Zoom is worst across all.29

What does this mean?Tasks:Best performing in tasks was One-by-One.Worst in Tasks 1 & 2 was Free Zoom w/ Fixed Axes.Worst in Task 3 was Grid Zoom.

NASA TLX:Best result was One-by-One.Worst was Grid Zoom.

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Suggest that overview and context are important. It is worse to have just one of these than none of these.Overview: seeing whole chart.Context: constant view of axis to give meaning. 30

Bigger Questions / Next StepsUse a better bar chart.All x axis labels.More bars to increase complexity.

Repeat study with greater participant range.

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Possibly with older adults.31

Bigger Questions / Next StepsAddition of a favourite bar to aid comparison.Comparison of different possibilities.

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Bigger Questions / Next StepsConsider other chart types:Are there additional challenges, e.g. for line charts? What about multiple lines?How to show trajectory?

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Bigger Questions / Next StepsDo the zoom interactions transfer to other wearable devices such as Google Glass?

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Conclusion / RecommendationsOverview and Context appear to be important in viewing bar charts on smart watches.Do not include one without the other!

The goal:To create and evaluate a set of guidelines for exploring data visualisations on small screens.

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AcknowledgementsThanks to: Dr Alison Pease (Dundee)Julia Roming (MSc UX Engineering)All participants who took part in the studies

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