Using Interactive Visualizations of WWW Log Data to Characterize Access Patterns and Inform Site Design

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dc.contributor.authorHochheiser, Harryen_US
dc.contributor.authorShneiderman, Benen_US
dc.contributor.departmentISRen_US
dc.date.accessioned2007-05-23T10:07:27Z
dc.date.available2007-05-23T10:07:27Z
dc.date.issued1999en_US
dc.description.abstractHTTP server log files provide Web site operators with substantial detail regarding the visitors to their sites. Interest ininterpreting this data has spawned an active market for software packages that summarize and analyze this data, providing histograms, pie graphs, and other charts summarizing usage patterns. While useful, these summaries obscureuseful information and restrict users to passive interpretation of static displays. Interactive visualizations can be used to provide users with greater abilities to interpret and explore web log data. Bycombining two-dimensional displays of thousands of individual access requests, color and size coding for additional attributes, and facilities for zooming and filtering, these visualizations provide capabilities for examining data that exceed those of traditional web log analysis tools. <p>We introduce a series of interactive visualizations that can be used to explore server data across various dimensions. Sample visualizations of server data from two web sites are presented. Coordinated, snap-together visualizations (STVs) of log data are introduced as a means of gaining additional expressive power. Possible uses of these visualizations are discussed, and difficulties of data collection, presentation, and interpretation are explored.en_US
dc.format.extent2165129 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/6034
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesISR; TR 1999-70en_US
dc.subjectWorld Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectlog file analysisen_US
dc.subjectinformation visualization,en_US
dc.titleUsing Interactive Visualizations of WWW Log Data to Characterize Access Patterns and Inform Site Designen_US
dc.typeTechnical Reporten_US

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