While I love the look of force-directed-graphs, they wind up representing lots of arbitrary/random values, in all the degrees of freedom of the exact location/angles/proximities they settle into.
I would suggest using a more traditional nested-outline view, either overall or within certain subgraphs. Then, the above/below axis could mean something consistent -- like ordering in source code -- and the left/right something else -- like nesting/composition. And there might be more room for projecting persistent time information -- like a piano roll -- off in a particular direction.
Wow. Kindly+thoughtfully toned, pertinent and constructive criticism that is rewarding and encouraging. And at the top. I wish this wasn't as refreshing in HN as it is, but it is damn refreshing.
While I love the look of force-directed-graphs, they wind up representing lots of arbitrary/random values, in all the degrees of freedom of the exact location/angles/proximities they settle into.
I would suggest using a more traditional nested-outline view, either overall or within certain subgraphs. Then, the above/below axis could mean something consistent -- like ordering in source code -- and the left/right something else -- like nesting/composition. And there might be more room for projecting persistent time information -- like a piano roll -- off in a particular direction.
Still very pretty, interesting, and promising!