Ben Shneiderman

Known for experimentation on the use of flowcharts and information visualization in programming, Shneiderman conducted experiments in his earlier work on studying programmers which suggested that flowcharts were not helpful for writing, understanding, or modifying computer programs.

His major work in recent years has focused on information visualization, originating the treemap concept for hierarchical data. He also developed dynamic queries sliders with multiple coordinated displays that were a key component of Spotfire, which was acquired by TIBCO in 2007. His work has continued on visual analysis tools for time series data, TimeSearcher, high dimensional data, Hierarchical Clustering Explorer, and social network data, SocialAction plus NodeXL.

In addition to his influential work in user interface design, Shneiderman is known for the co-invention (together with Isaac Nassi) of the Nassi