Graphical Encoding for Information Visualization: Using Icon Color, Shape, and Size to Convey Nominal and Quantitative Data

dc.contributor.authorNowell, Lucille Terryen
dc.contributor.committeechairHix, Deborah S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberSchulman, Robert S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHartson, H. Rexen
dc.contributor.committeememberHeath, Lenwood S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberEhrich, Roger W.en
dc.contributor.departmentComputer Scienceen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:18:45Zen
dc.date.adate1998-01-26en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:18:45Zen
dc.date.issued1997-11-07en
dc.date.rdate1999-01-26en
dc.date.sdate1997-11-07en
dc.description.abstractIn producing a user interface design to visualize search results for a digital library called Envision [Nowell, France, Hix, Heath, &amp; Fox, 1996] [Fox, Hix, Nowell, et al., 1993] [Nowell &amp; Hix, 1993], we found that choosing graphical devices and document attributes to be encoded with each graphical device is a surprisingly difficult task. By <i>graphical devices</i> we mean those visual display elements (e.g., color, shape, size, position, etc.) used to convey encoded, semantic information. Research in the areas of psychophysics of visual search and identification tasks, graphical perception, and graphical language development provides scientific guidance for design and evaluation of graphical encodings which might otherwise be reduced to opinion and personal taste. However, literature offers inconclusive and often conflicting viewpoints, suggesting a need for further research. The goal of this research was to determine empirically the effectiveness of graphical devices for encoding nominal and quantitative information in complex visualization displays. Using the Envision Graphic View, we conducted a within-subjects empirical investigation of the effectiveness of three graphical devices - <i>icon color, icon shape,</i> and <i>icon size</i> - in communicating nominal (document type) and quantitative (document relevance) data. Our study provides empirical evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of icon color, shape, and size for conveying both nominal and quantitative data. While our studies consistently rank color as most effective, the rankings differ for shape and size. For nominal data, icon shape ranks ahead of icon size by all measures except time for task completion, which places shape behind size. For quantitative data, we found, by all measures, that encodings with icon shape are more effective than with icon size. We conclude that the <i>nature of tasks</i> performed and the relative <i>importance of measures of effectiveness</i> are more significant than the type of data represented for designers choosing among rankings.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.identifier.otheretd-111897-163723en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-111897-163723/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/29663en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartETD.PDFen
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dc.relation.haspartREADME.txt_en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectgraphical encodingen
dc.subjectinformation visualizationen
dc.subjectdigital libraryen
dc.subjectEnvisionen
dc.subjectvisual searchen
dc.titleGraphical Encoding for Information Visualization: Using Icon Color, Shape, and Size to Convey Nominal and Quantitative Dataen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineComputer Scienceen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

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