Balance trees: a new visual representation for body balance

Abstract

This case study describes the results from a user-centric research project developing new visual representations of body balance to accompany a sway measurement mobile application. The study consisted of a short initial interview with participants, followed by 30 days of home usage of our Balance iOS application by the participants and concluded with a 90 minute interview at the participant's homes. In the second interview, real participant data visualized as spark-lines was presented back to the users to initiate discussion about their experiences, followed by a card sorting activity to rank various visualization options. As a result, a composite visual representation which focuses on longer term patterns and communicates four body balance attributes: sway score, symmetry, sway distribution and variability was developed to meet our users' needs.