This paper presents icon abacus, a space-efficient technique for displaying document attributes by automatic positioning of document icons. It displays the value of an attribute by using position on a single axis, allowing the other axis to display different metadata simultaneously The layout is stable enough to support navigation using spatial memory. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces – graphical user interfaces. H.3.7 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Digital Libraries – user issues. General Terms Algorithms, Design, Human Factors.
Eric A. Bier, Adam Perer