*Tack Design Principles
The science behind *Tack UI is based on insight in human information processing. *Tack makes large quantities of data manageable and interactive, even within strict space constraints. The *Tack creates an infographic presentation of the data and allows direct interaction, making information browsing more engaging, efficient, and fun.
Fighting Fitts
Fitts' Law is a model of human movement, originally suggested by Paul Fitts in 1954 [1], that accurately predicts the time required for pointing a target. The equation
MT = a + b log(D/W)
is dependent on pointing device dependent factors a and b, and target distance (D) and width (W).
Fitt's Law and Different Tack
To optimize pointing speed, we should decrease D and increase W. And this is what our patented UI does: the sector-based approach brings all targets as close as possible, and enlarges selectable targets interactively.
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP)
With RSVP, information is displayed in a fixed focal position to minimize the need for eye movements [2]. It can be used for instance to increase individual reading speed. Different Tack uses it for helping users quickly index through tweets for keywords and thus facilitates browsing through large amounts of information quickly.
Sector diagrams and peripheral vision
The original "rose diagram"
by Florence Nightingale (1858)
Sector diagrams can make use of peripheral vision to identify outliers [3]. Different Tack makes use of the feature detection abilities of peripheral vision, for instance to communicate the relevance of items.
References
[1] MacKenzie, I.S. (1992). Fitts' law as a research and design tool in human–computer interaction. Human–Computer Interaction, volume 7, 1992, pp. 91–139.
[2] Potter, M.C. (1984) Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP): A method for studying language processing. In Kieras, D.E. and Just, M.A. (eds.), New Methods in Reading Comprehension Research. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1984, 91-118.
[3] Berg, M., Kojo, I., Laarni, J. (2010): Object displays for identifying multidimensional outliers within a crowded visual periphery. J. Visual Communication and Image Representation 21(8): 880-888