Ben Bederson

Professor Emeritus
3171 A.V. Williams Building
(301) 405-2764
Education: 
Ph.D., New York University (Computer Science)
Special Awards/Honors: 
2012 ACM Distinguished Scientist, 2012 CHI Academy, 2010 SIGCHI Social Impact Award, 2009 Digital Education Award
Biography: 

Benjamin B. Bederson is an emeritus professor of computer science and a past director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab and the College of Information Studies (iSchool).

Bederson's research focuses on human computation, mobile device interfaces, interaction strategies, digital libraries and children's education. He is also co-founder and chief scientist of Zumobi, a premium mobile app network.

Bederson is well-known for his work on Zoomable User Interfaces (ZUIs) since the mid-1990s, including the Pad++ and Piccolo toolkits for zoomable and structured 2-D graphics. That work led to his well-known applications around personal photo management (PhotoMesa), calendaring (DateLens), and hierarchical data visualization (SpaceTree). ZUIs have since become well-established in a wide range of domains, including maps and mobile phones.

He is also known for his work around children's educational technologies, including his notable International Children's Digital Library in collaboration with Ann Weeks and UMIACS member Allison Druin. Its website contains the largest freely available collection of children's books from around the world. It also represents the outcome of a range of research efforts, including computer-vision based applications for text readability, as well as work in translation and mobile access.

Additionally, Bederson has established himself in the area of human computation, an approach to combine human with computational effort to solve problems at a scale and quality that neither could accomplish alone. One important example of this work is his National Science Foundation and Google supported work on MonoTrans, a system that enables monolingual human speakers to collaboratively translate text.

He received his doctorate in computer science from New York University in 1992.

Publications

2011


Tom Yeh, Chang T-H, Xie B, Walsh G, Watkins I, Wongsuphasawat K, Huang M, Davis LS, Bederson BB.  2011.  Creating contextual help for GUIs using screenshots. Proceedings of the 24th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.
:145-154.

2010


Buzek O, Resnik P, Bederson BB.  2010.  Error driven paraphrase annotation using Mechanical Turk. Proceedings of the NAACL HLT 2010 Workshop on Creating Speech and Language Data with Amazon's Mechanical Turk.
:217-221.

Resnik P, Buzek O, Hu C, Kronrod Y, Quinn A, Bederson BB.  2010.  Improving translation via targeted paraphrasing. Proceedings of the 2010 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing.
:127-137.

2009


Druin A, Bederson BB, Rose A, Weeks A.  2009.  From New Zealand to Mongolia: Co-designing and deploying a digital library for the world's children. Special issue of Children, Youth and Environments: Children in Technological Environments: Interaction, Development, and Design.

Bederson BB, Quinn A, Druin A.  2009.  Designing the reading experience for scanned multi-lingual picture books on mobile phones. Proceedings of the 9th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries.
:305-308.

2008


Cockburn A, Karlson A, Bederson BB.  2008.  A review of overview+ detail, zooming, and focus+ context interfaces. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR). 41(1):1-31.

Quinn AJ, Hu C, Arisaka T, Rose A, Bederson BB.  2008.  Readability of scanned books in digital libraries. Proceeding of the twenty-sixth annual SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:705-714.

Karlson AK, Bederson BB.  2008.  One-handed touchscreen input for legacy applications. Proceeding of the twenty-sixth annual SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:1399-1408.

Bederson BB, Clamage A, Plaisant C.  2008.  Enhancing In-Car Navigation Systems with Personal Experience. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2064(-1):33-42.

2007


Kang H, Plaisant C, Lee B, Bederson BB.  2007.  NetLens: Iterative Exploration of Content-Actor Network Data. Information VisualizationInformation Visualization. 6(1):18-31.

Hutchinson HB, Druin A, Bederson BB.  2007.  Supporting elementary-age children's searching and browsing: Design and evaluation using the international children's digital library. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 58(11):1618-1630.

Karlson AK, Bederson BB.  2007.  Thumbspace: Generalized one-handed input for touchscreen-based mobile devices. Proceedings of the 11th IFIP TC 13 international conference on Human-computer interaction.
:324-338.

Druin A, Weeks A, Massey S, Bederson BB.  2007.  Children's interests and concerns when using the international children's digital library: a four-country case study. Proceedings of the 7th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries.
:167-176.

Kang H, Bederson BB, Suh B.  2007.  Capture, annotate, browse, find, share: novel interfaces for personal photo management. International Journal of Human-] Computer Interaction. 23(3):315-337.

2006


Lee B, Parr CS, Plaisant C, Bederson BB, Veksler VD, Gray WD, Kotfila C.  2006.  TreePlus: Interactive Exploration of Networks with Enhanced Tree Layouts. Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on. 12(6):1414-1426.

Parhi P, Karlson AK, Bederson BB.  2006.  Target size study for one-handed thumb use on small touchscreen devices. Proceedings of the 8th conference on Human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services.
:203-210.

Plaisant C, Clamage A, Hutchinson H B, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2006.  Shared family calendars: Promoting symmetry and accessibility. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.. 13(3):313-346.

Hutchinson HB, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2006.  The evolution of the international children's digital library searching and browsing interface. Proceedings of the 2006 conference on Interaction design and children.
:105-112.

Lee B, Kang H, Plaisant C, Bederson BB.  2006.  Exploring content-actor paired network data using iterative query refinement with NetLens. Digital Libraries, 2006. JCDL '06. Proceedings of the 6th ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on.
:372-372.

Lee B, Parr C, Plaisant C, Bederson BB.  2006.  Visualizing Graphs as Trees: Plant a Seed and Watch it Grow. Graph DrawingGraph Drawing. 3843:516-518.

Shneiderman B, Bederson BB, Drucker SM.  2006.  Find that photo!: interface strategies to annotate, browse, and share. Communications of the ACM - Supporting exploratory search. 49(4):69-71.

2005


Kuniavsky M, Vaughan M, Bederson BB, Shneiderman B, Rau PLP, from Menus T, Lane DM, Napier HA, Peres SC, Sándor A.  2005.  Content Index to Volume 18. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN–COMPUTER INTERACTION. 18(3):367-368.

Hutchinson HB, Rose A, Bederson BB, Weeks AC, Druin A.  2005.  The International Children’s Digital Library: A Case Study in Designing for a MultiLingual. Multi-Cultural, Multi-Generational Audience. Information Technology and Libraries.

Shneiderman B, Bederson BB.  2005.  Maintaining concentration to achieve task completion. Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Designing for User eXperience.

Shneiderman B, Bederson BB.  2005.  Maintaining concentration to achieve task completion. Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Designing for User eXperience.
:9-9.

2004


Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2004.  Preschool children's use of mouse buttons. CHI'04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems.
:1411-1412.

Bederson BB, Grosjean J, Meyer J.  2004.  Toolkit design for interactive structured graphics. Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on. 30(8):535-546.

Parr CS, Lee B, Campbell D, Bederson BB.  2004.  Visualizations for taxonomic and phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics. 20(17):2997-2997.

Bederson BB, Clamage A, Czerwinski MP, Robertson GG.  2004.  DateLens: A fisheye calendar interface for PDAs. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). 11(1):90-119.

Khella A, Bederson BB.  2004.  Pocket PhotoMesa: a Zoomable image browser for PDAs. Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Mobile and ubiquitous multimedia.
:19-24.

Chipman LE, Bederson BB, Golbeck J.  2004.  SlideBar: Analysis of a linear input device. Behaviour & Information Technology. 23(1):1-9.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2004.  Building KidPad: an application for children's collaborative storytelling. Software: Practice and Experience. 34(9):895-914.

2003


Druin A, Revelle G, Bederson BB, Hourcade JP, Farber A, Lee J, Campbell D.  2003.  A collaborative digital library for children. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 19(2):239-248.

Bederson BB, Lee B, Sherman RM, Herrnson PS, Niemi RG.  2003.  Electronic voting system usability issues. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:145-152.

Marchionini AS, Nation D, Karasik S, Cronnell T, Shneiderman B, Spotfire VDMU, Bederson BB, Data TS, Hochheiser H, Shneiderman B et al..  2003.  Bringing Treasures to the Surface: Previews and Overviews in a Prototype for the Library of Congress National Digital Library. The craft of information visualization: readings and reflections.
:388-388.

Knudtzon K, Druin A, Kaplan N, Summers K, Chisik Y, Kulkarni R, Moulthrop S, Weeks H, Bederson BB.  2003.  Starting an intergenerational technology design team: a case study. Proceedings of the 2003 conference on Interaction design and children.
:51-58.

Hutchinson H, Bederson BB, Plaisant C, Druin A.  2003.  Family Calendar Survey. Technical Reports from UMIACS.

Bederson BB, Plaisant C, Mushlin R, Snyder A, Li J, Heller D, Shneiderman B, Hochheiser H, Fekete JD, Czenvinski M.  2003.  Innovating the Interaction. The craft of information visualization: readings and reflectionsThe craft of information visualization: readings and reflections.
:295-295.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A, Guimbretiere F.  2003.  Accuracy, Target Reentry and Fitts’ Law Performance of Preschool Children Using Mice. University of Maryland Technical Report, HCIL-2003. 16

Tanin E, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2003.  Broadening Access to Large Online Databases by Generalizing Query Previews. The Craft of Information VisualizationThe Craft of Information Visualization.
:31-37.

Druin A, Bederson BB, Weeks A, Farber A, Grosjean J, Guha ML, Hourcade JP, Lee J, Liao S, Reuter K et al..  2003.  The International Children's Digital Library. First Monday. 8(5-5)

Plaisant C, Mushlin R, Snyder A, Li J, Heller D, Shneiderman B.  2003.  LifeLines: Using Visualization to Enhance Navigation and Analysis of Patient Records. The Craft of Information VisualizationThe Craft of Information Visualization.
:308-312.

Suh B, Ling H, Bederson BB, Jacobs DW.  2003.  Automatic thumbnail cropping and its effectiveness. Proceedings of the 16th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.
:95-104.

North C, Shneiderman B, Plaisant C, Kang H, Bederson BB.  2003.  Seeing the World Through Image Libraries. The craft of information visualization: readings and reflectionsThe craft of information visualization: readings and reflections.
:47-47.

Kumar H, Plaisant C, Teittinen M, Shneiderman B.  2003.  Visual Information Management for Network Configuration. The Craft of Information VisualizationThe Craft of Information Visualization.
:239-256.

Druin A, Bederson BB, Weeks A, Farber A, Grosjean J, Guha ML, Hourcade JP, Lee J, Liao S, Reuter K et al..  2003.  The International Children's Digital Library: Description and analysis of first use. First Monday. 8(5):315-315.

Hutchinson H, Mackay W, Westerlund B, Bederson BB, Druin A, Plaisant C, Beaudouin-Lafon M, Conversy S, Evans H, Hansen H et al..  2003.  Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:17-24.

Druin A, Bederson BB, Hourcade JP, Sherman L, Revelle G, Platner M, Weng S.  2003.  Designing a digital library for young children: An intergenerational partnership. The craft of information visualization: readings and reflections. 178

Hombsek K, Bederson BB, Plaisant C.  2003.  Preserving Context with Zoomable User Interfaces. The craft of information visualization: readings and reflectionsThe craft of information visualization: readings and reflections.
:83-83.

Suh B, Ling H, Bederson BB, Jacobs DW.  2003.  Automatic thumbnail cropping and its effectiveness. Proceedings of the 16th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.
:95-104.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A, Rose A, Farber A, Takayama Y.  2003.  The International Children's Digital Library: viewing digital books online. Interacting with Computers. 15(2):151-167.

2002


Suh B, Bederson BB.  2002.  OZONE: A zoomable interface for navigating ontology information. Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces.
:139-143.

Revelle G, Druin A, Platner M, Bederson BB, Hourcade JP, Sherman L.  2002.  A visual search tool for early elementary science students. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 11(1):49-57.

Plaisant C, Grosjean J, Bederson BB.  2002.  SpaceTree: supporting exploration in large node link tree, design evolution and empirical evaluation. Information Visualization, 2002. INFOVIS 2002. IEEE Symposium on.
:57-64.

Hornbaek K, Bederson BB, Plaisant C.  2002.  Navigation patterns and usability of zoomable user interfaces with and without an overview. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). 9(4):362-389.

2001

2000


Benford S, Bederson BB, \AAkesson KP, Bayon V, Druin A, Hansson P, Hourcade JP, Ingram R, Neale H, O'Malley C et al..  2000.  Designing storytelling technologies to encouraging collaboration between young children. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:556-563.

Bederson BB, Meyer J, Good L.  2000.  Jazz: an extensible zoomable user interface graphics toolkit in Java. Proceedings of the 13th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.
:171-180.

Gandhi R, Kumar G, Bederson BB, Shneiderman B.  2000.  Domain name based visualization of Web histories in a zoomable user interface. 11th International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications, 2000. Proceedings.
:591-598.

1999


Bederson BB, Boltman A.  1999.  Does animation help users build mental maps of spatial information? Information Visualization, 1999.(Info Vis' 99) Proceedings. 1999 IEEE Symposium on.
:28-35.

Tammara TAC, Bederson BB.  1999.  Does zooming improve image browsing. Proceedings of the fourth ACM conference on Digital libraries.
:130-137.

Pages