Hierarchically animated transitions in visualizations of tree structures

Abstract

We present an experimental comparison of 4 techniques for smoothly animating changes in a radial tree visualization. Two traditional techniques, linear and staged animation, are compared with two novel techniques a hierarchical animation that proceeds level-by-level through the tree, and a hybrid animation technique that mixes the staged and hierarchical approaches. Users were asked to track changes in nodes of the tree during animated transitions. Results show a significant advantage for the hierarchical and hybrid animation techniques for tracking certain kinds of changes. We then propose guidelines for designing animated transitions. Finally, we present a new popup widget for interactively controlling the progression of an animation that combines advantages of previous widgets.