User Centered Evaluation of Interactive Data Visualization forms for Document Management Systems

Abstract

In order to manage the overload of digital information in the SMEs document management is becoming increasingly important. With a DMS documents can be searched, checked, edited and forwarded, which simplifies the handling of documents for the employees. Compared to the inciting and joyful designed user interfaces used for private matters, the interfaces of the up-to-date DMS are lagging far behind regarding usability since DMS are usually designed according to functional aspects. When solving the tasks, positive user experiences and joy of use are rather rare although this can help to encourage the acceptance and positive attitude towards software. In order to improve the usability aspects of DMS, in a first step, interactive visualizations were developed for the DMS data analysis and were tested for usability and attractiveness. Results of the study show that zoomable tree map is the most appropriate visualization type for DMS data and thus is recommended for interactive presentation of data structures.