Data Visualization and the Data Funnel Interface

The paper introduces the "data funnel" interface to visualization studies. This database interface organizes raw data into nested sets of data that guide users to information in a table. It combines a graphic display of the nested sets of data with the ability to navigate them to pinpoint a table row. The newly discovered branching data model (BDM) provides the framework for combining these two capabilities into a single hierarchical structure. This data model relies on a mathematically precise representation of the data mapping between two table attributes. It constructs a uniform pattern of one-to-many data mapping that depicts a primitive tree structure. A second, more advanced expression, the BDM chain, aggregates these small tree structures. Program logic parses the BDM chain to absorb the individual one-to-many branching patterns into larger, tree structures. The paper discusses how these tree structures reflect upon the logical components of the table, including how the data in its paths model each table row. It also explains how the BDM constructs data files for two different types of data funnel interfaces. In both interfaces, the technology generates all of the components automatically. With these interfaces, end-users are free to browse and explore the data content of a database table. Each time the user selects a data option, the interface updates its display of relational data to recommend the information located in the table. With each new selection, the interface acts like a funnel that moves the users one step closer to the information they want to see.