Cognitive Measurements of Graph Aesthetics
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 1 June 2002
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Information Visualization
- Vol. 1 (2), 103-110
- https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ivs.9500013
Abstract
A large class of diagrams can be informally characterized as node–link diagrams. Typically nodes represent entities, and links represent relationships between them. The discipline of graph drawing is concerned with methods for drawing abstract versions of such diagrams. At the foundation of the discipline are a set of graph aesthetics (rules for graph layout) that, it is assumed, will produce graphs that can be clearly understood. Examples of aesthetics include minimizing edge crossings and minimizing the sum of the lengths of the edges. However, with a few notable exceptions, these aesthetics are taken as axiomatic, and have not been empirically tested. We argue that human pattern perception can tell us much that is relevant to the study of graph aesthetics including providing a more detailed understanding of aesthetics and suggesting new ones. In particular, we find the importance of good continuity (ie keeping multi-edge paths as straight as possible) has been neglected. We introduce a methodology for evaluating the cognitive cost of graph aesthetics and we apply it to the task of finding the shortest paths in spring layout graphs. The results suggest that after the length of the path the two most important factors are continuity and edge crossings, and we provide cognitive cost estimates for these parameters. Another important factor is the number of branches emanating from nodes on the path.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- Which aesthetic has the greatest effect on human understanding?Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 1997
- Drawing graphs nicely using simulated annealingACM Transactions on Graphics, 1996
- Contour integration by the human visual system: Evidence for a local “association field”Vision Research, 1993
- Feature analysis in early vision: Evidence from search asymmetries.Psychological Review, 1988
- Orientation selectivity in cats and humans assessed by maskingVision Research, 1985
- The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1954