Visual clutter can interfere with real-world tasks such as searching for potential threats in checked-in luggage or recognizing a pedestrian while driving. The challenge may be fun when playing “Where’s Waldo?” but not so entertaining when sifting through mounds of paperwork for an important insurance document.
Scientists have now figured out a way to measure visual clutter. Although the research is still a work in progress, future mess-o-meters could lead to better Web designs, improved navigation systems and even smart cars that warn when an overly cluttered street scene may create a dangerous situation.
Here's a look at this groundbreaking research.
-- Bryn Nelson";
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Innovation_VisualClutter_070920[i-1].body = "
A clear directive
For their research, MIT scientist Ruth Rosenholtz and her colleagues tested how long it took volunteers to verify that a symbol such as an arrow was present or absent in maps of varying complexity. This image is an example of a low clutter map with a randomly placed – and easily identifiable – arrow pointing due east.";
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Innovation_VisualClutter_070920[i-1].body = "
No additives
This low clutter map lacks any added symbols. As expected, study volunteers required a bit more time to verify that one of these extras was absent in a display than to confirm their presence, as in the preceding image.";
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Innovation_VisualClutter_070920[i-1].body = "
Wyoming or bust
Images like this weather map present more color and pattern-related clutter, according to a new measure. With limited time to view the picture, volunteers would be expected to have more difficulty correctly determining whether the arrow in Wyoming is pointing to the left or to the right. By varying the contrast of the arrow, the researchers could further change the difficulty of the identification task.";
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Innovation_VisualClutter_070920[i-1].body = "
Naught by Northwest?
Likewise, the clutter-adding clouds in this map would be expected to delay the time required for volunteers to verify that no extra symbols such as an arrow have been added to the image.";
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As the arrow lies
This high-clutter image shows numerous printed city names and temperatures as well as a color gradient. As a weather map, the display offers an important trade-off: more useful information is presented, but the added elements may make the addition of an eye-catching extra (the right-pointing arrow bridging Indiana and Ohio) more difficult to find. ";
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Innovation_VisualClutter_070920[i-1].body = "
Midwest melange
Yet more difficult, according to volunteers’ response times, is making sure that no arrow has been added to high-clutter images such as this one. A newly developed statistical model-based measure, though, can separate out the types of clutter (is it based on color variability, for example?), potentially helping designers create more effective presentations."; // END editorial data