Survey on user studies on the effectiveness of treemaps

Treemaps are a commonly used tool for the visual display and communication of tree-structured, multi-variate data. In order to confidently know when and how treemaps can best be applied, the research community uses usability studies and controlled experiments to "understand the potential and limitations of our tools" (Plaisant, 2004). To support the communities' understanding and usage of treemaps, this survey provides a comprehensive review and detailed overview of 69 user studies related to treemaps. However, due to pitfalls and shortcomings in design, conduct, and reporting of the user studies, there is little that can be reliably derived or accepted as a generalized statement. Fundamental open questions include configuration, compatible tasks, use cases, and perceptional characteristics of treemaps. The reliability of findings and statements is discussed and common pitfalls of treemap user studies are identified.