Rapid growth in 3-D rendering technologies has deluged us with glitzy graphical representations.In what contexts do people find 3-D graphs of 2-D data both attractive and useful?We examine students' preferences for graphical display formats under several use scenarios.Line graphs were preferred more for conveying trends than details, and more for promoting memorability than for immediate use; bar graphs showed the opposite pattern.3-D graphs were preferred more for depicting details than trends, more for memorability than immediate use, and more for showing others than oneself.The reverse held for 2-D graphs.

This paper introduces multitrees, a new type of structure for representing information.Multitrees are a class of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) with the unusual property that they have large easily identifiable substructures that are trees.These subtrees have a natural semantic interpretation providing alternate hierarchical contexts for information, as well as providing a natural model for hierarchical reuse.The numerous trees found within multitrees also afford familiar, tree-based graphical interactions.