TABLE 1
FROM:
Finding and understanding reusable designs from large hierarchical repositories
Peter Demian and Renate Fruchter
BACK TO ARTICLETable 1. Advantages and disadvantages of various labeling options
| Advantages | Disadvantages | |
|---|---|---|
| Scaled labels | The labels are as large as space permits, and so they are generally more legible. The user can easily associate the label with its rectangle (because the label extends from one end of the rectangle to the other). The size of the label functions as a convenient criterion for choosing which labels to draw: if after scaling the label will be too small to be legible, it is not drawn at all. | Short labels, when scaled up, are disproportionately prominent. For example, a discipline label can appear more prominently than the project to which it belongs because the discipline has a short name. |
| Fixed–size labels | It is easy to identify the level of granularity of an item from the font size of its label. | It is almost impossible to select suitable font sizes to use for the whole treemap, because the rectangle sizes vary widely within each level of granularity. If the rectangle is too small, the label can overflow outside the two sides of the rectangle. If the rectangle is too large, the label is drowned by empty space. In both cases, it becomes hard to associate the label with its rectangle. There are no obvious criteria for choosing which labels to draw (given that with all labels drawn, occlusion renders the whole treemap almost illegible). One possibility is relevance. |
