Eye tracking for visualization evaluation: Reading values on linear versus radial graphs (original) (raw)
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Comparing information graphics: a critical look at eye tracking
Proceedings of the 3rd BELIV'10 Workshop: …, 2010
Effective graphics are essential for understanding complex information and completing tasks. To assess graphic effectiveness, eye tracking methods can help provide a deeper understanding of scanning strategies that underlie more traditional, high-level accuracy and task completion time results. Eye tracking methods entail many challenges, such as defining fixations, assigning fixations to areas of interest, choosing appropriate metrics, addressing potential errors in gaze location, and handling scanning interruptions. Special considerations are also required designing, preparing, and conducting eye tracking studies. An illustrative eye tracking study was conducted to assess the differences in scanning within and between bar, line, and spider graphs, to determine which graphs best support relative comparisons along several dimensions. There was excessive scanning to locate the correct bar graph in easier tasks. Scanning across bar and line graph dimensions before comparing across graphs was evident in harder tasks. There was repeated scanning between the same dimension of two spider graphs, implying a greater cognitive demand from scanning in a circle that contains multiple linear dimensions, than from scanning the linear axes of bar and line graphs. With appropriate task design and targeted analysis metrics, eye tracking techniques can illuminate visual scanning patterns hidden by more traditional time and accuracy results.
2005
The graph layout problem has long been a major concern for effectiveness of conveying information. To propose user-centred aesthetic criteria for a "good" layout, it is important to have knowledge on how people read graphs; how a particular graph layout characteristic can affect people's reading performance. On the other hand, despite the increasingly wide use of graphs in everyday life, yet we know surprisingly little about how people actually read graphs. The present eye tracking study in this paper is an attempt to perform an initial investigation into this issue and provide data that can help build the basic understanding of how people read graphs. .
Visual Exploration Patterns in Information Visualizations: Insights from Eye Tracking
Social Computing and Social Media. Applications and Analytics
One of the common problems associated with measuring the usability of information visualizations is understanding human factors of visual perception and cognitive processing in interacting with dynamic data graphs that are commonly used in social computing applications. In this paper, we investigate the cognitive and perceptual processes in the visual exploration process of information visualizations. Increasing interest in recent years has been focused on the development of performance-based usability metrics, (such as accuracy, speed and visual scanning strategies captured from session logs) to address this problem. However, the growing number of new terminology related to eye tracking metrics have caused considerable confusion to the information visualization community, consequently making the comparison of these metrics and the generalization of empirical results from eye tracking studies of data visualizations increasingly difficult. This paper proposes a framework of eye tracking metrics related to interacting with information visualizations which demonstrate the underlying relationships between human factors in gaze metrics and information visualization design factors. Design implications and issues relating to the investigation of these metrics are also discussed.
2014
Due to the fact that the quality of decisions is linked to the availability of information and to the ability of the human brain to process this in an effective and efficient way, its selection and representation are of major importance in business communication. Graphs and tables are widely used to transform raw data into a more understandable format, but there are not any empirically tested guidelines that consider the cognition and perception abilities of humans. This paper therefore explores how specific visual designs applied to column graphs influence effectiveness and efficiency by applying the technique of eye-tracking to make an accurate assessment of what the observer is looking at. The tested design elements show significant results and allow the deduction of the following design guidelines for column graphs: do not use a 3D view for depicting two dimensional data, do not use non-zero or broken axes, do show label values, do not use horizontal gridlines or the label axis ...
Eye Movements Indicate the Temporal Organisation of Information Processing in Graph Comprehension
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2014
Hierarchical graphs (e.g. file system browsers and preference trees) represent objects (e.g. files and folders) as graph nodes and relations between them (e.g. sub-folder relations) as lines. We investigated the temporal organisation of two processes that are necessary for comprehending such graphs-search for the graph nodes and reasoning about their relation. We tracked eye movements to change graphs while participants interpreted them. In Experiment 1, we masked the graph at a time when search processes had finished but reasoning was hypothetically ongoing. We observed a dramatic deterioration in comprehension compared with unmasked graphs. In Experiment 2, we changed the relation between critical graph nodes after search for them had finished, unbeknownst to participants. Participants mostly based their response on the graph as presented after the change. These results suggest that comprehension processes are organised in a sequential manner, an observation that can potentially be applied to the interactive presentation of graphs.
Eye Tracking in Multimodal Comprehension of Graphs
2012
Eye tracking methodology has been a major empirical research approach for the study of online comprehension processes in reading and scene viewing. The use of eye tracking methodology for the study of diagrammatic representations, however, has been relatively limited so far. The investigation of specific types of diagrammatic representations, such as statistical graphs is even scarce. In this study, we propose eye tracking as an empirical research approach for a systematic analysis of multimodal comprehension of line graphs. Based on a framework of multimodal comprehension of graphs and texts, which focuses on the role of spatial concepts, we present an experimental investigation of linguistic guidance and eye movement control in comprehension of time-domain line graphs with a particular focus on the analysis of gaze patterns in graph in-
2018
Many people misinterpret histograms. The conjecture is that some of these misinterpretations emerge from the application of interpretation strategies associated with case-value plots. To investigate this, eye-movement data were collected from six university students solving questions on histograms and case-value plots. Analysis of gaze data and cued retrospective verbal reports showed that participants seemed to use a histogram interpretation strategy, a case-value plot interpretation strategy or an elimination strategy. Several participants appeared to use a single preferred strategy without distinguishing between the type of graphs at stake. As conjectured, some participants applied a case-value plot strategy also to histograms. In addition, analysis of gaze data and verbal reports suggest that more experienced participants abandoned their initial strategy when necessary.
Using Guidelines to assist in the Visualisation Design Process
IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium, 2005
The graph layout problem has long been a major concern for effectiveness of conveying information. To propose user-centred aesthetic criteria for a "good" layout, it is important to have knowledge on how people read graphs; how a particular graph layout characteristic can affect people's reading performance. On the other hand, despite the increasingly wide use of graphs in everyday life, yet we know surprisingly little about how people actually read graphs. The present eye tracking study in this paper is an attempt to perform an initial investigation into this issue and provide data that can help build the basic understanding of how people read graphs. .