Jittering Markers in Mixed Box Charts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Box charts with discrete dimensions become impractical due to overlapping markers, making it difficult to read and understand data, as existing workarounds either limit the use of continuous dimensions or produce misleading displays.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a computer system that rounds discrete axis values to a first level of granularity, creates data point groupings, and jittering values on the discrete axis to determine data point locations, allowing for accurate plotting of markers in a box chart without suggesting unequal weighting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If markers are plotted in the center of each box, then the chart is simple to generate, but the viewer cannot perceive whether an individual box holds one, ten, or one hundred markers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the continuous axis into discrete bins or intervals, creating distinct regions within each box. This segmentation allows multiple markers to be distributed across different segments rather than overlapping at a single center point, preserving the ability to visualize marker density while maintaining simple chart generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an additional visual dimension by varying the size, opacity, or stacking of markers within each box. This dimensional transformation allows the chart to encode marker count information through visual properties rather than requiring separate markers, thus preserving information while maintaining ease of generation.
2Ease of operation
If markers are plotted at random locations within each box, then marker overlap is reduced, but the display becomes misleading because it suggests that some markers have higher scores than others
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning specific, deterministic positions to markers within each box based on their actual coordinate values. Instead of random placement, markers are positioned at locations that reflect their true data values, ensuring that the spatial distribution accurately represents the underlying data while reducing overlap through careful positioning strategies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses jittering as a form of controlled copying, where markers are replicated with slight positional variations around their true values. This creates multiple copies that are closely clustered, allowing the viewer to perceive both the true value location and the presence of multiple markers without suggesting unequal weighting, as all copies are visually identical.
3Adaptability or versatility
If both dimensions are discrete, then categorization is improved, but most of the plotted markers overlap, making the chart difficult to read or understand
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic positioning strategies that adapt marker placement based on the number of markers in each box. When markers overlap, the system dynamically adjusts their positions within the box boundaries, using techniques such as sequential placement, grid-based distribution, or density-aware positioning. This dynamic approach maintains the categorical structure of discrete dimensions while preventing overlap and improving readability.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes, generally, methods and systems for plotting a graphically displayed box chart. The method includes receiving a data set. The data set includes a first axis and a second axis and the data set consists of ordered pairs. The method further includes determining that the first axis is discrete and that the second axis is continuous and rounding values of the second axis' portion of the ordered pairs of the data set, based on a first level of granularity. The method includes based on the rounded values, creating data point groupings, and based on the data point groupings, determining a total number of data point locations for the first axis. The method further includes jittering values of the first axis' portion of the ordered pairs of the data set at each determined data point location, wherein the jittering alters the values based on a second level of granularity.