# Periphery Plots for Contextualizing Heterogeneous Time-Based Charts

## TL;DR

This paper introduces periphery plots, a visualization technique that enhances the interpretation of heterogeneous time-based data across multiple scales by providing focus zones and adjacent aggregate plots.

## Contribution

It proposes a novel framework for periphery plots that combine focus zones with auxiliary plots to improve temporal data visualization across different scales.

## Key findings

- Effective visualization of multi-scale temporal data
- Enhanced pattern recognition across time scales
- Demonstrated utility through two use cases

## Abstract

Patterns in temporal data can often be found across different scales, such as days, weeks, and months, making effective visualization of time-based data challenging. Here we propose a new approach for providing focus and context in time-based charts to enable interpretation of patterns across time scales. Our approach employs a focus zone with a time and a second axis, that can either represent quantities or categories, as well as a set of adjacent periphery plots that can aggregate data along the time, value, or both dimensions. We present a framework for periphery plots and describe two use cases that demonstrate the utility of our approach.