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Visualizing Sets: An Empirical Comparison of Diagram Types.

Chapman, Peter; Stapleton, Gem; Rodgers, Peter; Micallef, Luana; Blake, Andrew

Authors

Gem Stapleton

Peter Rodgers

Luana Micallef

Andrew Blake



Abstract

There are a range of diagram types that can be used to visualize
sets. However, there is a significant lack of insight into which is the
most effective visualization. To address this knowledge gap, this paper empirically evaluates four diagram types: Venn diagrams, Euler diagrams with shading, Euler diagrams without shading, and the less well-known linear diagrams. By collecting performance data (time to complete tasks and error rate), through crowdsourcing, we establish that linear diagrams outperform the other three diagram types in terms of both task completion time and number of errors. Venn diagrams perform worst from both perspectives. Thus, we provide evidence that linear diagrams are the most effective of these four diagram types for representing sets.

Citation

Chapman, P., Stapleton, G., Rodgers, P., Micallef, L., & Blake, A. (2014). Visualizing Sets: An Empirical Comparison of Diagram Types. In Diagrammatic Representation and Inference (146-160). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44043-8_18

Conference Name 8th International Conference on Theory and Application of Diagrams: Diagrams 2014
Conference Location Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Start Date Jul 28, 2014
End Date Aug 1, 2014
Acceptance Date Feb 14, 2014
Publication Date 2014
Deposit Date May 2, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8578
Pages 146-160
Series Title Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Series Number 8578
Series ISSN 0302-9743
Book Title Diagrammatic Representation and Inference
ISBN 978-3-662-44042-1
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44043-8_18
Keywords Set visualization; linear diagrams; Venn diagrams; Eulerdiagrams;
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9995
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44043-8_18