A Replication Study on Glanceable Visualizations: Comparing Different Stimulus Sizes on a Laptop Computer

We replicated a smartwatch perception experiment on the topic of glanceable visualizations. The initial study used a setup that involved showing stimuli on an actual smartwatch attached to a wooden stand and a laptop to run and log the experiment and communicate with the smartwatch. In our replication we wanted to test whether a much simpler setup that involved showing the same stimuli on a laptop screen with similar pixel size and density would lead to similar results. We also extended the initial study by testing to what extent the size of the stimulus played a role for the results. Our results indicate that the general trends observed in the original study mostly held also on the larger display, with only a few differences in certain conditions. Yet, participants were slower on the large display. We also found no evidence of a difference for the two different stimulus display sizes we tested. Our study, thus, gives evidence that simulating smartwatch displays on laptop screens with similar resolution and pixel size might be a viable alternative for smartwatch perception studies with visualizations.