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The first two designs use the notion of layouts. A layout is a configuration of visualisations present. A layout is created by the user, and saved as a file. The designs vary in the number of layouts that the user has available. In a multi-layout design it is easy for the user to switch between several already selected layouts.
In a single layout the user is only concentrated on one layout and swapping layouts is done less efficiently - by navigating through the whole list of layouts. Layouts are similar to tabs in functionality. Multi-layout design allows the user to organize and group visualisaitions based on common factors. A layout can be also used as a cathegory category to contain related visualisations.
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Multi-Layout Rectangular Design Analysis
- Visibility
- A user opening a layout by name wouldn't know what is present on the layout. This could eventually be improved by providing a thumbnail version of what the layout may look like.
- It may not be visible that the user can drag visualizations around by holding a tap.
- Efficiency
- Error Prevention
- Saving and opening a layout can save time for the user who regularly uses the same setup or who needs to switch between several different setups.
- Also, we plan to make the layout description standartized (XML or YAML) in order to allow users to create layouts automatically.
- Error prevention
- Errors are typically accidental deletions of layouts or visualisations. To prevent layout deletion a confirmation dialogue may be shown to the user (since deleting a layout will be reasonably rare operation). Deleting a visualization will not be specifically prevented - instead it will be really easy to recover from it - just add the deleted visualization again. We might also include an undo-delete option in the menu.
- Learnability
- The 2D shape of the layout will help users distinguish between layouts easier - without the need of reading all the labels
Single-Layout List Design Analysis
- Visibility
- Like in the multi-layout design a user opening a layout by name wouldn't know what is present on the layout.
- It may not be visible that the user can drag visualisations up and down by holding a tap.
- Efficiency
- Error Prevention
- Learnability
- Saving and opening a layout can save time for the user who regularly uses the same setup or who needs to switch between several different setups.
- Also, we plan to make the layout description standartized (XML or YAML) in order to allow users to create layouts automatically
- Error prevention
- Costly errors are typically accidental deletions of layouts or visualisations. To prevent layout deletion a confirmation dialogue may be shown to the user (since deleting a layout will be reasonably rare operation). Deleting a visualization will not be specificially prevented - instead it will be really easy to recover from it - just add the deleted visualisation again. We might also include an undo-delete option in the menu.
- Learnability
- The list layout has pretty simple structure which should allow the user to quickly understand the metaphor.
Show-All List-Based Design
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- Visibility
- Some options like the command menu are accessible only from the Menu option, which might cause visibility issues. This issue arises for some of the graphing screen's more advanced features as well.
- Most data is displayed early and quickly, so data visibility is high.
- Efficiency
- The drill-down aspect of the interface may not be the most efficient, but we expect that it is worth the organizational and learnability benefits.
- Error Prevention
- The only serious errors that can occur with the application is in the command screen. As the interface stands, commands are sent on finger-up, but if testing reveals that this is an issue, we will likely add a Confirm button.
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- Learnability
- Most things are clickable in this interface, so learnability should be relatively easy. The graph mode has a few features that novice users are not likely to know about, but that is more a visibility issue.