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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2024.21

The Perception of Stress in Graph Drawings

Authors: Gavin J. Mooney, Helen C. Purchase, Michael Wybrow, Stephen G. Kobourov, and Jacob Miller

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 320, 32nd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2024)

Abstract

Most of the common graph layout principles (a.k.a. "aesthetics") on which many graph drawing algorithms are based are easy to define and to perceive. For example, the number of pairs of edges that cross each other, how symmetric a drawing looks, the aspect ratio of the bounding box, or the angular resolution at the nodes. The extent to which a graph drawing conforms to these principles can be determined by looking at how it is drawn - that is, by looking at the marks on the page - without consideration for the underlying structure of the graph. A key layout principle is that of optimising "stress", the basis for many algorithms such as the popular Kamada & Kawai algorithm and several force-directed algorithms. The stress of a graph drawing is, loosely speaking, the extent to which the geometric distance between each pair of nodes is proportional to the shortest path between them - over the whole graph drawing. The definition of stress therefore relies on the underlying structure of the graph (the "paths") in a way that other layout principles do not, making stress difficult to describe to novices unfamiliar with graph drawing principles, and, we believe, difficult to perceive. We conducted an experiment to see whether people (novices as well as experts) can see stress in graph drawings, and found that it is possible to train novices to "see" stress - even if their perception strategies are not based on the definitional concepts.

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Gavin J. Mooney, Helen C. Purchase, Michael Wybrow, Stephen G. Kobourov, and Jacob Miller. The Perception of Stress in Graph Drawings. In 32nd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 320, pp. 21:1-21:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{mooney_et_al:LIPIcs.GD.2024.21,
  author =	{Mooney, Gavin J. and Purchase, Helen C. and Wybrow, Michael and Kobourov, Stephen G. and Miller, Jacob},
  title =	{{The Perception of Stress in Graph Drawings}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2024)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-343-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{320},
  editor =	{Felsner, Stefan and Klein, Karsten},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2024.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-213051},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2024.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: Stress, Graph Drawing, Visual Perception}
}

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DOI: 10.4230/DagRep.13.1.216

Perception in Network Visualization (Dagstuhl Seminar 23051)

Authors: Karsten Klein, Stephen Kobourov, Bernice E. Rogowitz, Danielle Szafir, and Jacob Miller

Published in: Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 13, Issue 1 (2023)

Abstract

Networks are used to model and represent data in many application areas from life sciences to social sciences. Visual network analysis is a crucial tool to improve the understanding of data sets and processes over many levels of complexity, such as different semantic, spatial and temporal granularities. While there is a great deal of work on the algorithmic aspects of network visualization and the computational complexity of the underlying problems, the role and limits of human perception are rarely explicitly investigated and taken into account when designing network visualizations. To address this issue, this Dagstuhl Seminar raised awareness in the network visualization community of the need for more extensive theoretical and empirical understanding of how people perceive and make sense of network visualizations and the significant potential for improving current solutions when perception-based strategies are employed. Likewise, the seminar increased awareness in the perception community that challenges in network research can drive new questions for perception research, for example, in identifying features and patterns in large, often time-varying networks. We brought together researchers from several different communities to initiate a dialogue, foster exchange, discuss the state of the art at this intersection and within the respective fields, identify promising research questions and directions, and start working on selected problems.

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Karsten Klein, Stephen Kobourov, Bernice E. Rogowitz, Danielle Szafir, and Jacob Miller. Perception in Network Visualization (Dagstuhl Seminar 23051). In Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp. 216-244, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@Article{klein_et_al:DagRep.13.1.216,
  author =	{Klein, Karsten and Kobourov, Stephen and Rogowitz, Bernice E. and Szafir, Danielle and Miller, Jacob},
  title =	{{Perception in Network Visualization (Dagstuhl Seminar 23051)}},
  pages =	{216--244},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Reports},
  ISSN =	{2192-5283},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{13},
  number =	{1},
  editor =	{Klein, Karsten and Kobourov, Stephen and Rogowitz, Bernice E. and Szafir, Danielle and Miller, Jacob},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DagRep.13.1.216},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-191220},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagRep.13.1.216},
  annote =	{Keywords: Network Visualization, Graph Drawing, Perception, Cognition}
}

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The Perception of Stress in Graph Drawings

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Perception in Network Visualization (Dagstuhl Seminar 23051)

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