An extended platter metaphor for effective reconfigurable network visualization

We adapt the Flodar (Swing, 1998) metaphor to visualize dynamic networks and present experimental results on the effectiveness of this approach. Dynamic reconfiguration of networks enable rapid optimization of performance of a network, however, it poses several management difficulties when user intervention is required to resolve complex routing problems. Our metaphor scales well for networks of varying size, addresses the cluttering problem seen in past metaphors and maintains the overall network context while providing additional support for navigation and interaction. We apply the metaphor to three dynamic reconfiguration management tasks and show how these tasks are visually represented with our approach. We conducted an experiment with network administrators and researchers as subjects. A good understanding of network conditions portrayed in the metaphor was achieved within a short period.