Chapter Ten
Interacting with Visualizations
The kinds of interactions we discuss in this chapter are what Kirsh and Maglio (1994) called epistemic actions. An epistemic action is an activity intended to uncover new information. A good visualization is not just a static picture or a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment that we can walk through and inspect like a museum full of statues. A good visualization is something that allows us to drill down and find more data about anything that seems important. Ben Shneiderman (1998) developed a mantra to guide visual information-seeking behavior and the interfaces that support it: “Overview first, zoom and filter, then details on demand.” In reality, however, we are just as likely to see an interesting ...
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