董卫华等：Using Eye Tracking to Evaluate the Usability of Flow Maps

作者:Dong, WH (Dong, Weihua)[ 1,2 ] ; Wang, SK (Wang, Shengkai)[ 1,2 ] ; Chen, YZ (Chen, Yizhou)[ 1,2 ] ; Meng, LQ (Meng, Liqiu)[ 3 ]

ISPRS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-INFORMATION

卷: 7  期: 7

文献号: 281

DOI: 10.3390/ijgi7070281

出版年:JUL 2018

摘要

Flow maps allow users to perceive not only the location where interactions take place, but also the direction and volume of events. Previous studies have proposed numerous methods to produce flow maps. However, how to evaluate the usability of flow maps has not been well documented. In this study, we combined eye-tracking and questionnaire methods to evaluate the usability of flow maps through comparisons between (a) straight lines and curves and (b) line thicknesses and color gradients. The results show that curved flows are more effective than straight flows. Maps with curved flows have more correct answers, fixations, and percentages of fixations in areas of interest. Furthermore, we find that the curved flows require longer finish times but exhibit smaller times to first fixation than straight flows. In addition, we find that using color gradients to indicate the flow volume is significantly more effective than the application of different line thicknesses, which is mainly reflected by the presence of more correct answers in the color-gradient group. These empirical studies could help improve the usability of flow maps employed to visualize geo-data.

通讯作者地址: Dong, WH; Wang, SK (通讯作者)

Beijing Normal Univ, State Key Lab Remote Sensing Sci, Res Ctr Geospatial Cognit & Visual Analyt, Beijing Key Lab Remote Sensing Environm & Digital, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China.

通讯作者地址: Dong, WH; Wang, SK (通讯作者)

Beijing Normal Univ, Fac Geog Sci, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China.

地址:

[ 1 ] Beijing Normal Univ, State Key Lab Remote Sensing Sci, Res Ctr Geospatial Cognit & Visual Analyt, Beijing Key Lab Remote Sensing Environm & Digital, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China

[ 2 ] Beijing Normal Univ, Fac Geog Sci, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China

[ 3 ] Tech Univ Munich, Chair Cartog, D-80333 Munich, Germany