The Effectiveness of Interactive Visualization Techniques for Time Navigation of Dynamic Graphs on Large Displays

TL;DR

This study compares traditional and recent interactive visualization techniques for analyzing large dynamic graphs over time, highlighting the strengths of interactive timeslicing for distant time comparisons.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of interactive timeslicing versus small multiples and animation for dynamic network analysis on large displays.

Findings

Interactive timeslicing aids in comparing distant time points.

Small multiples and animation are less effective for distant time comparisons.

Timeslicing is less beneficial for analyzing contiguous time intervals.

Abstract

Dynamic networks can be challenging to analyze visually, especially if they span a large time range during which new nodes and edges can appear and disappear. Although it is straightforward to provide interfaces for visualization that represent multiple states of the network (i.e., multiple timeslices) either simultaneously (e.g., through small multiples) or interactively (e.g., through interactive animation), these interfaces might not support tasks in which disjoint timeslices need to be compared. Since these tasks are key for understanding the dynamic aspects of the network, understanding which interactive visualizations best support these tasks is important. We present the results of a series of laboratory experiments comparing two traditional approaches (small multiples and interactive animation), with a more recent approach based on interactive timeslicing. The tasks were performed on a large display through a touch interface. Participants completed 24 trials of three tasks with all techniques. The results show that interactive timeslicing brings benefit when comparing distant points in time, but less benefits when analyzing contiguous intervals of time.