Servicenavigation

Project Details

Back

Projekt Print View

Micro visualizations for pervasive and mobile data exploration

Subject Area Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing
Term from 2018 to 2023
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 406859983
 
Final Report Year 2024

Final Report Abstract

The topic of this grant was the study of small data visualizations—micro visualizations—necessary to show data on small wearable displays. Portable and wearable personal devices such as fitness tracking armbands, hand-held GPS trackers, smartwatches, or mobile phones have small displays capable of recording data such as step counts, heart rate, and other health-related information. Often, the data is shown with visualizations that must be adapted to the small display size. For example, if you own a smartwatch, you will likely have seen a small chart showing progress toward your step count goal. We consider small visualizations such as these under the term “micro visualization” and have been working towards a better understanding of the complexities involved in designing and using micro visualizations. Our work was motivated by the potential benefits of visualizations on small mobile devices such as fitness monitoring armbands and smartwatches. Our scientific approach consisted of applying mixed research methods from the domain of Human-Computer Interaction. Specifically, we started with ideation exercises to derive new designs for micro visualizations. We coupled the ideation exercises with systematic reviews and questionnaires about existing designs for smartwatch faces to ground our future work in existing practices and what kind of data the wearers of smartwatches are interested in. We finally employed controlled experiments with humans, during which we showed different types of designs to wearers and found out how well people could read the data on the smartwatches. Furthermore, we tested micro visualizations in real-world settings, e. g., while exercising or walking. We saw plenty of untapped opportunities for micro visualizations on smartwatches and their faces. Current smartwatch visualizations are simple regarding how much data they show but do not necessarily have to be so simple. In multiple studies, we have seen that people can correctly read even more visually complex data representations and prefer designs that show more data. We could show that our results also hold for different groups of people and that there are only small differences if our participant group consists of older adults.

Publications

 
 

Additional Information

© 2026 DFG Disclaimer / Copyright / Privacy Policy

Textvergrößerung und Kontrastanpassung