Wonder Wheel: Google brings node / link vis to the mainstream

Recently, Google has rolled out a new set of search tools both for web search and YouTube video search.  One of the featured tools is a node-link visualization engine called the Wonder Wheel.  You can read more about Wonder Wheel at the Google Blog and on TechCrunch.

There’s a few things to notice about Wonder Wheel from the perspective of node / link visualization:

1)  The point of centrality (the selected node) is stationary.  This makes it easier to interpret.

2)  It is exclusively first and second degree relationships that are shown.  There’s no option to see search terms related to one-another by three or four degrees, let alone the famous six degrees.

3)  There is only one piece of information presented per node.

These are just a few interesting things.  Google’s persistent focus on adoption has clearly driven the design decisions.  Given their traffic and their clout, more people have probably tried Wonder Wheel than have used all of the other node / link visualization applications put together.   Overall, it’s very simple, not too powerful, but highly approachable.  I hope they continue to advance this project and roll visualization-as-the-interface into more of their projects.  Great work, Google.