Emphasis Effects

Emphasis is a ubiquitous part of visualization and computer systems more broadly. Emphasis effects include: highlighting, zooming, and flickering icons. Emphasis effects make certain elements in a display more visually prominent.

Using this concept of visual prominence, I have created a unifying Framework for Information Visualization Emphasis (FIVE) that provides a overarching description of emphasis effects in visualization. This work resulted in a STAR at EuroVis (https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.12936). FIVE builds on previous descriptions of emphasis (as demonstrate through an extensive literature review) while also accommodating new emphasis effects that previous emphasis frameworks do not capture. My framework is a basis for describing, comparing and generating emphasis effects. Importantly, my work also shows that emphasis effects are present in all visualization techniques. Using FIVE, my co-authors and I point to underexplored and unexplored approaches to creating emphasis effects while also laying the groundwork for future empirical studies on evaluating and comparing emphasis effects.