The Application of Legibility Techniques to Enhance Information Visualizations

Abstract

This paper shows how previous research into navigation through urban environments, which has emerged from the discipline of urban planning, can be adapted to enhance the design of information visualizations. The paper draws on Kevin Lynch's seminal work on the legibility of urban landscapes in order to propose a set of general techniques which can be applied to the task of information visualization. It describes a specific instantiation of these techniques called LEADS, a legibility system which post-processes the output of a range of existing visualization systems in order to enhance their legibility. The paper provides four examples of the application of LEADS to different information visualizations. Following this, it discusses experimental work, the conclusions of which provide some tentative support for the likely success of this approach. The outcomes of this work are both a recognition of the important relationship between the disciplines of urban planning and the design of information visualizations as well as more concrete algorithms to be used by the designers of such visualizations.