Measure the effect of dynamic color instability on mental-map preservation

Determine how color instability in dynamic hierarchical color maps affects users' mental-map preservation during interaction, using user studies that adequately facilitate the construction and retention of a mental map of the color map.

Background

The user study found that participants often avoided relying on color because they expected colors to change, instead using spatial position or other visual channels. The authors note that the short duration of the individual trials likely prevented participants from constructing a sufficiently developed mental map of the color map.

Consequently, the study could not measure the effect of color instability on mental-map preservation. The authors explicitly designate this and the associated methodological issue of participants' compensatory strategies as open questions for future user studies of dynamic color maps.