Please note: To avoid the risk of biased results this section will take the form of an overview of the proposed research. Once complete, findings will be published accordingly.

I have devised a new way for people to organise information on a computer.  Titled “Proximap”, the metaphor assists users in visually organising data and endeavours to be more efficient and intuitive than existing data management tools.

The aim of the research is to investigate Proximap and how users, of differing levels of computer expertise, respond to it.  I wish to further my understanding in the arena and to, ultimately, establish Proximap as a recognised data visualisation technique.

Notable themes in the recent, relevant literature are:

• People experience a considerable cognitive load when initially classifying data for storage on a computer system, and then again later when remembering where they saved it.  This difficulty stems from strict hierarchical file systems where information systematically is buried within the structure.  Inefficient data storage techniques result, where information is stored incorrectly and is subsequently either difficult to locate and/or lost.
• The “Desktop” metaphor that is commonplace among personal computers is no longer appropriate.  It was designed to help users move from a physical desktop work environment to its virtual equivalent.  Whilst it has significantly contributed to the success of computing, the Desktop’s shortcomings are numerous and well documented within the literature.
• When given the opportunity, users will organise information into semantically significant visual clusters – i.e. Users will arrange files that they deem to be similar or related into visual groupings on the screen.  The available visualisation solutions only provide limited support for this and often completely disable it by forcing information to be listed alphabetically, temporally (by date/time) or by some other obscure file attribute.

Proximap responds to these themes by:

• Appealing to the user’s innate spatial ability:  As information is stored visually, users will use spatial cues to aid them with retrieval.  The data is still stored hierarchically, though as it is “flattened” onto the screen plane, it is anticipated that information will be easier to retrieve.
• Emphasising semantic clusters.  Data is “Ordered by Proximity” – a “Proximity Link” illustrates how files are organised by how close they are to their neighbouring files.
• Potentially replacing the Desktop metaphor with a more visual, interactive and fun environment.
• Offering a proximity based “Flagging” system to assign user defined attributes to the files.

I intend for all participants to familiarise themselves with the applications by means of a number of tutorial-driven tasks. Feedback will be recorded by means of a questionnaire.