TY - JOUR
T1 - Matrices or node-link diagrams
T2 - Which visual representation is better for visualising connectivity models?
AU - Keller, René
AU - Eckert, Claudia M.
AU - Clarkson, P. John
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - Adjacency matrices or DSMs (design structure matrices) and node-link diagrams are both visual representations of graphs, which are a common form of data in many disciplines. DSMs are used throughout the engineering community for various applications, such as process modelling or change prediction. However, outside this community, DSMs (and other matrix-based representations of graphs) are rarely applied and node-link diagrams are very popular. This paper will examine, which representation is more suitable for visualising graphs. For this purpose, several user experiments were conducted that aimed to answer this research question in the context of product models used, for example in engineering, but the results can be generalised to other applications. These experiments identify key factors on the readability of graph visualisations and confirm work on comparisons of different representations. This study widens the scope of readability comparisons between node-link and matrix-based representations by introducing new user tasks and replacing simulated, undirected graphs with directed ones employing real-world semantics.
AB - Adjacency matrices or DSMs (design structure matrices) and node-link diagrams are both visual representations of graphs, which are a common form of data in many disciplines. DSMs are used throughout the engineering community for various applications, such as process modelling or change prediction. However, outside this community, DSMs (and other matrix-based representations of graphs) are rarely applied and node-link diagrams are very popular. This paper will examine, which representation is more suitable for visualising graphs. For this purpose, several user experiments were conducted that aimed to answer this research question in the context of product models used, for example in engineering, but the results can be generalised to other applications. These experiments identify key factors on the readability of graph visualisations and confirm work on comparisons of different representations. This study widens the scope of readability comparisons between node-link and matrix-based representations by introducing new user tasks and replacing simulated, undirected graphs with directed ones employing real-world semantics.
KW - Design structure matrix
KW - Engineering change
KW - Evaluation
KW - Graph visualisation
KW - Readability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33744830828&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/palgrave.ivs.9500116
DO - 10.1057/palgrave.ivs.9500116
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33744830828
SN - 1473-8716
VL - 5
SP - 62
EP - 76
JO - Information Visualization
JF - Information Visualization
IS - 1
ER -