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Screenshots of Visualizations 
Visualizations of email communications show how an individual's social network is constructed and trends in communication patterns. Above are three screen grabs of the software running on one user's data set (generated from examining that user's email spool files). The screen is divided into two regions: the left side shows the connections between individuals at any given time period, the right panel shows a graph of communication frequency over time. These graphs use color to denote the type of relationship the individual has with the user - people known through work may be colored green while those known from school may be orange/yellow. The size of a name indicates how much communication is happening during that period of time. The squares on the right side show the communication traffic between the user and any given individual (selected by clicking) over the entire time of that relationship. It's important to realize that these images are much more meaningful to someone familiar with the names and addresses. It's like looking at someone's phone bills: without knowing the numbers, trends and patterns can be seen, but by knowing the number one can say, "Ah, that's my best friend from college - I call them every weekend." The implication with this system is that it gives the ability to an outsider to say, "This connection happens a lot; let's investigate what this means and contact that individual", while an insider can see the patterns and recognize the causes intuitavely. |