CAREER: Design Principles, Algorithms, and Interfaces for Visual Communication

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract for Proposal 0643552 CAREER: Design Principles, Algorithms, and Interfaces for Visual Communication Maneesh Agrawala, University of California, Berkeley Visual communication is fundamental to the process of exploring and disseminating concepts and information. The most effective visualizations are carefully crafted by human designers, who use a variety of design principles to graphically emphasize important information while de-emphasizing or omitting irrelevant details. Such visualizations help analysts rapidly find patterns lurking within large data sets and they help audiences quickly understand complex ideas. Yet, even with the aid of computers, hand-designing effective visualizations is time-consuming and consumes considerable human skill and effort. Too often, this lack of time and skill results in poorly designed visualizations that hinder understanding. This work is developing algorithms and user interfaces that facilitate visual communication by making it fast and easy to generate compelling visualizations. The investigators develop a three-stage approach for building such algorithms and interfaces. In stage 1 they identify domain-specific design principles that are used to create the most effective visualizations within an information domain. In stage 2 they instantiate the design principles within new algorithms and interfaces for creating visualizations. In stage 3 they evaluate the resulting visualizations and the creation tools. Although the general approach has application to a wide variety of information domains, the investigators focus on visual design problems in cartographic visualization, structural visualization of complex 3D objects such as human anatomy and mechanical parts, and the design of diagrams and slide presentations. While the initial results are producing domain-specific algorithms and interfaces, the broader goals of this line of research are to refine the general three-stage approach and develop strategies to apply it to wider varieties of information domains.