“It felt like I was part of the data”: Comparing Mouse, Touch, and Physical Interaction with Visualizations

 

Download my thesis here

 

Abstract

 

With my two exploratory studies I contribute a deeper understanding of the different experiences people have when manipulating data representations using mouse, touch, and physical interaction. To uncover experiences rather than performance measures I employed two different methodologies in the context of “data connectedness.” My first study used Likert-based questionnaires to determine differences in how connected participants felt to the data they were interacting with. To gain a deeper understanding, my second study employed a word selection activity (using the Desirability Toolkit), which led to much richer data. I found that people associated words like “engaged,” “direct,” and “satisfying” with touch and physical interaction, but often used words like “awkward,” “dull,” and “distant” with the mouse.

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For my Master’s thesis, I collaborated with researchers from Microsoft Research and Inria France. I conducted a user study comparing different interaction techniques (mouse, touchscreen, and physical tangibles) that explored people’s experiences with data visualizations, rather than the typical performance measures such as speed and accuracy.