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The paper gave an overview of seven tasks within a task by data type taxonomy: overview, zoom, filter, details-on-demand, relate, history, and extracts. I would summarize the information about this with the word “exploration.” I chose the word “exploration” because as these concepts help users find information and get more details. They typically must work with the interface to filter and click around it to get information. Overview refers to gaining a rundown of the entire collection. Zoom refers to getting more information about a particular item of interest. Users usually become interested in certain things and want to learn more about it. They need tools to enable them to control the zoom focus/factor. Filter refers to allowing users to eliminate unwanted items on their display, so they can easily focus on their interests. This can be done with sliders, buttons, or other control widgets. Details-on-demand refers to selecting an item or group and getting details when needed. Relate refers to viewing the relationship among items, this can be similar attributes. History touches on keeping a history of actions to support undo, replay, and progressive actions. Many times, a single user action will not always produce the desired outcome, so allowing users to retrace their steps is important. Finally, extract is allowing users to get the item/set of items they needed, then allowing them to extract that set and save it to a file in a format that is great for printing or sending by email. It is important to remember these concepts throughout my career so I can help make successful commercial products and interfaces that will allow users to view/use/find information easier. Implementing search and filter options will also be important for several kinds of interfaces.
Citation
B. Shneiderman, "The eyes have it: a task by data type taxonomy for information visualizations," Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages, Boulder, CO, USA, 1996, pp. 336-343, doi: 10.1109/VL.1996.545307.