Improved UX of Network Device Monitoring: A Practical Example of Information Visualization

Abstract: Today, the possible amount of data to collect has grown with better computers and the internet. Therefore, the interest in how to visualize complex data has increased. In this thesis, a practical example of how to design an information visualization (IV) application has been conducted. Advencia is a company located in Malmö that focuses on cyber-security. Advenica’s product, ZoneGuard, works as a bridge between two security domains that blocks or allows network packages to transfer between the domains. Advenica saw a need to visualize the information exchange between the two domains and the status of a ZoneGuard. To design an IV that is adapted to the users’ needs, a user-centered design (UCD) approach was implemented. A UCD approach resulted in an IV application that Advenica was satisfied with. In that aspect, a UCD approach in this project was a success. However, with the limitation of access to real end-users, the end-users’ user experience (UX) could not be fully tested. This was solved by instead testing on employees at Advenica. It is first when the application is tested on the end-users, that one can confirm if the visualization has a high usability or not. Representative and interactive IV techniques were used to design the IV application. To represent information transferred through a ZoneGuard, vertical stacked bar graphs were used. In the application, there are examples of how bar graphs and line charts can be used to visualize data. There are also examples of how hovering over (mouse over), which is an interactive technique, can be used to enhance a user’s understanding of the data.