Variable Layout in Grid Visualization

Abstract

The power grid is the infrastructure that enables electricity to be delivered from its generation point to end users, including consumers, businesses, and services. Failures in this infrastructure can cause severe economic damage and create dangerous situations. Strong situational awareness can help grid operators better understand system conditions and improve their ability to prevent failures and accelerate recovery processes.
One key requirement for situational awareness is a clear perception of the environment. This is typically achieved through the use of various applications and dashboards that monitor the state of the grid. The focus of this research is to develop a visualization tool that allows grid operators to view two different representations of the power grid—geographical and topological—within the same interface.
A slider-based visualization was proposed to enable operators to transition smoothly between these views in a controlled manner. This approach aims to prevent loss of focus and reduce the cognitive load associated with switching between separate visualizations. A user study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this method compared to two alternative approaches: a side-by-side visualization of geographical and topological views, and a setup where each representation is shown in separate applications.
Participants consisted of students and young professionals, divided into two groups based on their experience in related domains. The results showed no significant difference in accuracy between the slider visualization and the other two methods; however, users were generally slower when using the slider. When analyzing the groups separately, experienced users showed no significant differences in speed across the three methods, whereas inexperienced users were significantly slower with the slider compared to the side-by-side visualization.
Additionally, users tended to spend more time exploring intermediate states between the geographical and topological views when using the slider, a trend that was particularly pronounced among experienced users. Despite the slower performance, the slider-based visualization was perceived as more enjoyable and engaging compared to the other methods.
Overall, the findings suggest that a slider-based approach can be a promising method for integrating multiple representations of the power grid. However, further work is needed to improve its performance and to evaluate its effectiveness in more realistic operational scenarios.