InfoBUG, timeWheel, & 3D-wheel
The InfoBUG, timeWheel, and 3D-wheel are three novel glyphs that I designed for showing software management data. In this case the data set had many different attributes, and it was difficult to get a quick summary of particular software objects (e.g. a particular module, a particular software-package, a particular file, a given programmer, etc). Thus the glyphs were designed to give users a summary of important aspects of software components, so that they can quickly decide whether to further explore those components in detail. For specifics on how data is mapped onto the glyphs please refer to the associated publication.
Figure 3: InfoBug, TimeWheel, & 3D-wheel
These glyphs can also be used in other domains. For example imagine using the infoBUG glyph to represent the files on your desktop so that you can see more summary information about them and not just the file type.
A big problem with complex glyphs such as the ones here is that it may be difficult for us to associate the different parts of the glyph to our data. E.g. it might be hard to remember what the spokes of the infoBUG represent in our file system or what its wings represent. The learning curve can therefore be quite high, but once learned, the encodings provide an econmical means of displaying multiple attributes in a way that allows rapid gestalt comparisons among different data objects.
Back to
Research Page