Context and Interaction in Zoomable User Interfaces

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Context and Interaction in Zoomable User
Interfaces

• Stuart Pook
• Eric Lecolinet
• Guy Vaysseix
• Emmanuel Barillot
• École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications,
  France
• Infobiogen, France
• Généthon, France

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Zoomable User Interfaces

• Problems
• too many operations controlled by the mouse
• lack of context
• users get lost
• dont know where to look for information

• Solutions
• control menu
• context layer
• history layer
• hierarchy tree

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Control Menu

• Pop-up menu
• visually similar to a marking menu
• Combines choice and control
• single continuous reversible gesture
• no focus changes
• immediate feedback

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Control Menu examples

• Examples Zoom Pan
• Novices see the menu
• experts dont
• Proportional bidirectional control
• Replaces a menu and two scroll bars

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Context Layer

• Transparent
• Superposition of
• main (focal) view
• fixed
• overlaid with the context view
• context view
• scale variable
• allows the user to position the main view
• Dynamic
• Temporary

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Context Layer (video)

• Focuss position shown in the context
• Interactive control of the contexts scale
• Movement helps separate the two views

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Hierarchy Tree

• Permanent
• Next to main view
• Shows structure
• Indicates information not yet visible
• Navigation tool

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Current status

• Client/server program in Java and C
• browse a database of genetic maps
• Generic implementation
• virtual library under development
• http//www.infobiogen/services/zomit
• Demonstration Thursday 4pm