How Effective are Uni- and Multivariate Typographic Encodings? Studying the Usage of FontWeight, Oblique Angle, and Spacing

Abstract

Text is one of the most commonly used ways to transmit information. It is widely used in various visualizations and determines our understanding of the presented content. The information density of text can be enhanced by visualizing data in typographic attributes, such as font weight, letter spacing, or oblique angle. To increase information density the furthest, without the visualization losing performance or effectiveness, the perceivable granularity of the typographic attributes needs to be known. In an empirical experiment, the number of distinguishable levels in typographic attributes and the effects of changing the associated font size or facilitating multivariate encoding are assessed. Findings facilitate designing information-dense typographic visualizations without decreasing their performance or effectiveness.