Zoom navigation exploring large information and application spaces

ABSTRACT

We present the concept of ZOOM NAVIGATION, a new interaction paradigm to cope with visualization and navigation problems as found in large information and application spaces. It is based on the pluggable zoom, an object-oriented component derived from the variable zoom fisheye algorithm.Working with a limited screen space we apply a Degree-of-interest (DOI) function to guide the level of detail used in presenting information. Furthermore we determine the user's information and navigation needs by analysing the interaction history. This leads to the definition of the aspect-of-interest (AOI) function. The AOI is evaluated in order to choose one of the several information aspects, under which an item can be studied. This allows us to change navigational affordance and thereby enhance navigation.In this paper we describe the ideas behind the pluggable zoom and the definition of DOI and AOI functions. The application of these functions is demonstrated within two case studies, the ZOOM ILLUSTRATOR and the ZOOM NAVIGATOR. We discuss our experience with these implemented systems.

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INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
detail + context technique, fisheye display, human-computer interfaces, information navigation, screen layout, zoom navigation, zooming interfaces