How to Investigate Interaction with Information Visualisation: An Overview of Methodologies

Abstract

Fortgeschrittene Informationssysteme ermöglichen viele unterschiedliche Formen der Interaktion. Es ist allerdings nicht klar, welche dieser Interaktionsformen wirklich nützlich sind. Daher brauchen wir eine konsistente Theorie der Interaktionen. Wir schlagen Logfileanalyse, Eye-Tracking und Thinking Aloud als Methoden für die Analyse von Integrationsprozessen vor.

Advanced information visualisation systems offer many dif- ferent forms of interaction. Nevertheless, we do not know how useful these interactions are. Researchers have suggested to develop a science of interaction. In this paper we discuss which research methods might be appropriate to study interaction with information visualisation systems. We suggest that thinking aloud, log files and eye tracking are promis- ing candidates. These methods enable researchers to study interaction in more detail than other methods. All these methods have strengths and weaknesses. A combination of two or three of these methods might help to overcome the weaknesses.