Above and Beyond: Outer Space as a Metaphor for Document Browsing and Visualization

Abstract

Currently, any ordinary user has hundreds or even thousands of electronic documents stored on his computer. Usually, those documents are archived using an hierarchically-organized file system, making their retrieval at a later time a difficult task. In this paper we present a novel approach for document browsing and visualization based on the Outer Space metaphor. While users ”travel” from galaxies to planets and their satellites, the search criteria become narrower eventually allowing users to find their documents. With our approach, users can find a specific file in no more than four clicks. We developed a preliminary prototype, using a user centered approach, through the development of low-fidelity prototypes and heuristic evaluations.