Visual Rating System for HFES Graphics: Design and Analysis

Abstract

This paper introduces research that evolved out of an analysis of Gillan, Wickens, Hollands, & Carswell's (1998) guidelines for the graphical presentation of quantitative data in HFES publications. The impetus for this research stemmed from a concern about substandard illustrations accompanying publications and the difficulty in communicating how to improve the quality of those illustrations. The aim in this paper is twofold: (1) to offer a pragmatic method for operationalizing and measuring the adherence of a specific graphic to the aforementioned guidelines; and (2) to present the analysis of preliminary data gathered using the metric developed. I will first present the methodology used to develop a Web-based rating interface, then examine the implementation of that interface, and finally discuss the results of a comparative analysis performed on samples of graphics published before and after the original guidelines. Counterintuitively, the only evidence we found of a change between graphs published before the guidelines and those published after was a decrease in the readability of text.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aumer-Ryan

P. R.

(2005). HFES Graphic Guidelines — Visual Rating System. Retrieved February 20, 2006, from http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/∼paul/hfes/.

Gillan

D. J.

Lewis

(1994). A componential model of human interaction with graphs: I. Linear regression modeling. Human Factors, 36, 419–440.

Gillan

D. J.

Wickens

C. D.

Hollands

J. G.

Carswell

C. M.

(1998). Guidelines for presenting quantitative data in HFES publications. Human Factors, 40(1), 28–41.

Krippendorff

(2004). Intrinsic motivation and human-centred design. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 5(1), 43–72.

Larkin

Simon

(1987). Why a diagram is (sometimes) worth 10,000 words. Cognitive Science, 4, 317–345.

Lindsay

P. H.

Norman

D. A.

(1977). Human Information Processing, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Academic Press.

Loftus

G. R.

(1993). Visual data representation and hypothesis testing in the microcomputer age. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 25, 250–256.

Lohse

G. L.

(1993). A cognitive model for understanding graphical perception. Human-Computer Interaction, 8, 313–334.

Morkes

Kernal

Nass

(1999). Effects of humor in task-oriented human-computer interaction and computer-mediated communication: A direct test of SCRT theory. Human-Computer Interaction, 14(4), 395–435.

10.

Pinker

(1990), A theory of graph comprehension. In Freedle

(Ed.), Artificial intelligence and the future of testing (pp. 73–126). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

11.

Simkin

Hastie

(1987). An information processing analysis of graph perception. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 82, 454–465.

12.

Wickens

C. D.

(1992). The human factors of graphs at HFS annual meetings. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Bulletin, 35(7), 1–5.