The Eyes Have It: A Task by Data Type Taxonomy for Information Visualizations

The visual information-seeking mantra and a taxonomy of seven data types and seven tasks.

Shneiderman (1996)Conferencedoi:10.1109/VL.1996.545307

Citation

Shneiderman, B. (1996). The Eyes Have It: A Task by Data Type Taxonomy for Information Visualizations. Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages, 336–343.

Method

Conceptual framework.

Claims used

Begin with overview, then zoom and filter, then details on demand.
History is one of seven basic tasks.

Extracted principles

Make navigation history visibleNot tested
Exploration interfaces should show the path already taken and provide a way back, not just show the current position.
Overview first, details on demandNot tested
Start index pages with an overview of the available content, allow filtering, and disclose details only when requested.

NavigationKnowledge navigation