Interactive feedback in visualizations increases user engagement and enjoyment
Juicy Interactive Visualization: Evaluating How Excessive Feedback Design Shapes Visualization Engagement
Human-Computer Interaction
Summary
People look at visual displays of data to understand information, but how the visuals respond to user actions can make a big difference. The authors studied special kinds of interactive feedback called juicy feedback, which draws from how games keep players interested. They built many examples to test how different feedback styles affect user engagement. Their results show that feedback given right after an action, rather than just making it more intense, helps people stay interested and enjoy the experience more.
What this means in practice
- •For data visualization designers: Create visualizations that include post-interaction feedback to improve user engagement and enjoyment when interacting with data.
- •For software interface developers: Implement timely feedback mechanisms in interactive applications to enhance user interaction quality and sustain attention.
Authors
Shano Liang, Max Chen, Lane Harrison
Abstract
Visualization research has long examined embellishment and animation, while the design of rich interaction-contingent feedback remains under-articulated as a systematic design space. We introduce JuicyVIS, a theory-informed operationalization of juicy feedback for interactive visualization that translates ideas from game studies into a visualization-centered framework. JuicyVIS introduces three dimensions, interaction type, feedback timing, and feedback intensity, which we explore through 26 controlled prototypes, grounded in established visualization interaction categories and prior work on juicy feedback in games. We evaluate the juicy design space through three exploratory mixed-methods online studies. Results show that juicy feedback was consistently associated with higher engagement and aesthetic experience, while the clearest gains came from post-interaction feedback, not, for example, by simply increasing intensity. We discuss how juicy feedback can be thought of as a design material in visualizations, shaping how visualization interactions feel, how action consequences are perceived, and how users remain engaged with data representations.