Visualizing information in user interfaces to complex, large-scale
systems is difficult due to the enormous amount of inter-related
data distributed across multiple views. While graphical representation
techniques can reduce some of the cognitive overhead associated
with comprehension, current interfaces suffer from the over-use
of such representation techniques and exceed human perceptual
capacity to efficiently interpret them. Motion holds promise
as a perceptually rich and efficient display dimension but little
is known about its attributes for information display. We carried
out a series of experiments that investigated how perceptual
properties of motion might be useful in coding information-rich
displays. Our results indicated that motion cues are often superior
to the traditional static codes such as colour and shape, but
that they introduce new issues of attentional pull and erroneous
associations that require careful design. In this talk, I will
describe our findings and discuss how they relate to user interface
and representation design in a variety of environments.