Exploring the Design Space of Aesthetics with the Repertory Grid Technique

TL;DR

This paper introduces a systematic method using repertory grids to identify and optimize aesthetic features in graph diagrams and visualizations, improving readability and perception without prior assumptions.

Contribution

It presents a novel repertory grid-based approach for exploring and identifying effective aesthetics in graph and visualization design, demonstrating its versatility across domains.

Findings

Reproduced aesthetics that enhance readability.

Identified relevant aesthetics for perception.

Validated approach across multiple groups and visualization types.

Abstract

By optimizing aesthetics, graph diagrams can be generated that are easier to read and understand. However, the challenge lies in identifying suitable aesthetics. We present a novel approach based on repertory grids to explore the design space of aesthetics systematically. We applied our approach with three independent groups of participants to systematically identify graph aesthetics. In all three cases, we were able to reproduce the aesthetics with positively evaluated influence on readability without any prior knowledge. We also applied our approach to two- and three-dimensional domain-specific software visualizations to demonstrate its versatility. In this case, we were also able to acquire several aesthetics that are relevant for perceiving the visualization.