Axis Control for Data-Bound Graphic Objects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for creating data visualizations, such as using templates, manual drawing, or coding, are limited in flexibility, accuracy, and ease of use, particularly for designers without programming expertise, as they often require cycling through data manipulation and visual design aspects, and breaking links between data and visualization can necessitate starting from scratch.
Innovation Solution
The development of an axis control system that allows graphic objects to have visual properties bound to data, enabling users to create data-driven designs by associating visual properties like size or position with data variables, allowing for automatic updates and adjustments while maintaining proportional relationships.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If template tools are used to create data visualizations, then the process is simplified and faster, but the flexibility and creativity of the digital designer are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the visualization creation process into independent data bindings that can be selectively applied to different visual properties (position, size, color, etc.) of graphic objects. This allows designers to use templates for overall structure while maintaining flexibility in specific visual aspects by binding data to individual properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the balance between template-driven efficiency and manual flexibility by allowing designers to selectively bind data to visual properties. This creates a dynamic workflow where some properties are automatically controlled by data bindings while others remain manually adjustable, resolving the contradiction between speed and flexibility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual drawing is used to create data visualizations, then designer flexibility and creativity are maximized, but the process becomes slow and sometimes inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically binding data to visual properties of graphic objects. This preliminary data binding establishes accurate proportional relationships that would otherwise require time-consuming manual calculations and adjustments, thereby speeding up the manual drawing process while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses copying by creating data bindings that can be replicated across multiple graphic objects. Once a data binding is established for one object, it can be copied to other objects, maintaining consistency and accuracy while significantly reducing the time required compared to manual adjustment of each object individually.
3Adaptability or versatility
If coding is used to build data visualizations, then unique and customized visualizations can be created, but it requires programming expertise that many designers lack
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary layer between the designer and the data visualization code. Instead of requiring designers to write programming code, the system provides a visual interface where designers can create data bindings by selecting properties and dragging data sources, thereby mediating the complexity of code generation while maintaining customization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system substitutes the mechanical process of coding with a visual drag-and-drop interface. Designers interact with the system through graphical elements and visual property bindings rather than writing code, replacing the mechanical programming task with an more accessible visual operation while achieving the same customization results.
4Extent of automation
If data bindings are created between visual properties and data variables, then automatic updates and proportional adjustments are enabled, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by creating a general-purpose data binding mechanism that works across multiple graphic objects and various visual properties (position, size, color, etc.). This single binding system handles diverse automation needs without requiring separate mechanisms for each property type, thereby managing complexity while providing extensive automation capability.
Data Source
AI summary
Computer-readable media, methods, and systems are provided for creating an axis control for adjusting graphic objects with one or more visual properties bound to data. One or more graphic objects are displayed on a graphic user interface, and a visual property of the graphic object relating to size or position is selected to be associated with a data value. An association is created between the visual property and the data, and a new coordinate system for the object is created based on the data value associated with the property. An axis control is then generated as a representation of the new coordinate system. Adjustments to the size or position of the axis control automatically result in a proportional change in the property values of any displayed graphic object subject to the association.