The Craft of Information Visualization

Preface

Information visualization has become a major theme during the past ten years for much of the work of the faculty, staff, and students at the University of Maryland’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL). Our roots are in human-computer interaction (HCI), but increasingly our attention has focused on information visualization. The reason is clear: The overall theme of our work is to improve the experience of people using computers, making that experience more effective and enjoyable. In order to reach that goal, we must create designs that enable users to develop control over the computer and, we hope, to attain a sense of mastery. For this to occur, users must have a fluid and efficient interaction with the computer—and the high bandwidth ...