17.6.1 MDS Based Product Catalog Map Using Attribute Weights
The MDS based product catalog map prototype can be visited online at http:
//www.browsingmap.com/mapvis.html, where it is available as a Java applet.
A screenshot of this prototype is shown in Figure 17.6. The GUI of the prototype mainly consists of a large focus map which gives a detailed view of a part
of the complete product catalog map. In this map, a couple of products, in this case
12, are represented by a larger full color image, the other products are visualized as
smaller monochrome images. By default, the monochrome images are colored according
to the cluster they belong to. Alternatively, the user has the option to color
them by product popularity (based on the clickstream data) or by attribute value.
The small overview map at the top always shows the complete product catalog map.
The user can navigate over the map in several ways. By selecting a rectangular subspace
in the focus or overview map, the user can zoom in on a specific part of the
map. Zooming is also possible using the mouse wheel. Finally, the user can move
over the map using dragging. Since the map itself is static, that is, the coordinates
of products are fixed, the computation of the map can be done offline, decreasing
online computation time. Of course, it is straightforward to add traditional search
technology, such as performing crisp queries, to the map based interfaces. All remaining
products satisfying the constraints can then be displayed using a map. This
would require the map to adapt when the product set changes and in this case client
computations may be necessary.
Fig.