Information Visualization as Interdisciplinary Research

Speaker:        Dr. Jinwook SEO
                Seoul National University
                Korea

Title:          "Information Visualization as Interdisciplinary Research"

Date:           Monday, 21 November 2011

Time:           4:00pm - 5:00pm

Venue:          Lecture Theatre F (near lifts 25/26), HKUST


Abstract:

Information visualization is an interdisciplinary research area where
methodologies developed in HCI, visual design, cognitive psychology, and
computer graphics are adapted to develop novel visual representations and
interactions. In the Human-Computer Interaction lab at the Seoul National
University, we are working on designing/implementing/evaluating
interactive information visualization systems. In this talk, we will
introduce two recent projects: PittaTree and ManiWordle.

In the PittaTree project, we proposed two extensions to the conventional
node-link tree visualization technique for efficient browsing and
understanding of hierarchical structures with large fan-outs. In the
conventional node-link tree visualization, the screen quickly becomes
overcrowded as users open nodes that have too many child nodes to fit in
one screen. The two extensions are a list view with a scrollbar and a
multi-column interface. We compared them against the conventional tree
visualization interface in a user study. Results show that users are able
to browse and understand the tree structure faster with the multi-column
interface than the other two interfaces. Overall, they also liked the
multi-column better than others.

In the ManiWordle project, we introduce ManiWordle, a Wordle-based
visualization tool that revamps interactions with the layout by supporting
custom manipulations. ManiWordle allows people to manipulate typography,
color, and composition not only for the layout as a whole, but also for
the individual words, enabling them to have better control over the layout
result. We first describee our design rationale along with the interaction
techniques for tweaking the layout. We then present the results both from
the preliminary usability study and from the comparative study between
ManiWordle and Wordle. The results suggest that ManiWordle provides higher
user satisfaction and an efficient method of creating the desired "art
work," harnessing the power behind the ever-increasing popularity of
Wordle.


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Biography:

Dr. Jinwook Seo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer
Science and Engineering at Seoul National University in Korea. He founded
the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory there in 2009. His research
interests include Human-Computer Interaction, Information Visualization,
and Biomedical Informatics. He received his BS and MS degrees in Computer
Science from Seoul National University in 1995 and 1997, respectively,
after which he taught Computer Science courses to cadets at Korea Air
Force Academy for three years. He later worked with Ben Shneiderman at the
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, University of Maryland and earned
his PhD in Computer Science in 2005. He received the Long-term Impact
Award at IEEE VisWeek Discovery Exhibition in 2009 for his work on the
Hierarchical Clustering Explorer. He has served on conference organization
and program committees such as IEEE VisWeek and IEEE PacificVis. He is
organizing IEEE VisWeek 2012 Discovery Exhibition and PacificVis 2012.