GEOM90007 Chap.9 Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views

Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views

Define interaction technique

Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views connects interaction technique, overview first principle and coordinated multiple views along an information-visualisation pipeline: data type, visual encoding, perception, task fit and evaluation.

The practical aim is to add only the interaction needed for a named analytical task and keep the current state visible; the display is defensible only when each encoding choice can be traced back to the analytical question and the structure of the data.

Place interaction technique at its correct stage: question, data specification, transformation, encoding, perception, tool or evaluation.

For interaction technique, record the variables, measurement levels, granularity, missingness and comparison task wherever they apply before choosing or judging a chart.

Use overview first principle to make the next transformation, encoding, layout, interaction or evaluation step explicit.

When overview first principle involves marks and channels, state which values they represent and check whether scale, ordering, aggregation or filtering changes the apparent pattern.

Use coordinated multiple views to test perceptual and task fit.

In Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views, ask whether viewers can make the required comparison accurately, whether uncertainty and exceptions remain visible, and whether colour, position, motion or interaction creates an avoidable accessibility or interpretation cost.

For the application — add only the interaction needed for a named analytical task and keep the current state visible — compare at least one alternative encoding against the same data and task.

Retain the design only if the coordinated multiple views evaluation shows that it reveals the intended relationship without introducing a stronger distortion or hiding the evidence needed to challenge it.

Make a compact pipeline audit for interaction technique: question or data field; transformation; mark and visual channel where applicable; intended task; evaluation evidence; and likely failure.

Locate overview first principle and coordinated multiple views at their actual stages so a technically valid implementation is not mistaken for an effective display.

Trace overview first principle

Test a changed overview first principle view. Hold the data and question stable, replace the channel most closely tied to overview first principle, and predict which comparison becomes easier or harder.

Evaluate the result with coordinated multiple views, including uncertainty, accessibility and the possibility that an apparent pattern is produced by scale, binning, projection or interaction state.

Critique Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views in task order: state the question around interaction technique, classify the data, describe the role of overview first principle, predict the perceptual judgement and report the coordinated multiple views evaluation evidence.

Revise the first stage where coordinated multiple views shows that the visual no longer supports the task instead of adding decoration to a structurally unsuitable chart.

A complete response should make the task visible before the detail: identify what must be decided, define the relevant terms, connect the evidence to overview first principle, and use coordinated multiple views to test the result.

The final sentence about coordinated multiple views should answer the question actually asked rather than merely repeat the topic.

The controlling limit is specific: More controls can increase cognitive load, conceal defaults and make results difficult to reproduce.

Keep that coordinated multiple views limit beside the worked example, because it separates a careful GEOM90007 answer from one that sounds confident but claims more than the task or evidence supports.

For revision, retrieve interaction technique, overview first principle and coordinated multiple views without notes, explain their relationship aloud, then complete a changed version of the application: add only the interaction needed for a named analytical task and keep the current state visible.

Record the first failed overview first principle reasoning move and repair it before attempting another case.

What this chapter covers

• 01

  interaction technique

• 02

  overview first principle

• 03

  coordinated multiple views

• 04

  Applying interaction technique

• 05

  Limits of overview first principle and coordinated multiple views

Worked example: Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views

Key terms

interaction technique

A user action and system response that changes a visual view, selection, level of detail or analytical state. Use this definition when the task is to add only the interaction needed for a named analytical task and keep the current state visible.

overview first principle

A design approach offering an initial view of the full dataset before zoom, filtering and details on demand. Use this definition when the task is to add only the interaction needed for a named analytical task and keep the current state visible.

coordinated multiple views

Linked visual displays in which selection or filtering in one view updates related representations of the same data. Use this definition when the task is to add only the interaction needed for a named analytical task and keep the current state visible.

Interaction, HCI and Coordinated Views FAQ

Assessment move

Reconstruct the relationship among interaction technique, overview first principle and coordinated multiple views; complete the chapter application without notes; then test the result against this limit: More controls can increase cognitive load, conceal defaults and make results difficult to reproduce.

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