1. A method for displaying hierarchically linked information, said hierarchically linked information comprised of a plurality of nodes each having one or more links to other of said plurality of nodes, said method comprising the steps of: a) dynamically identifying a focus node for any of said plurality of nodes; b) generating a degree of interest (DOI) value for each of said plurality of nodes, said degree of interest value relative to said focus node and sibling order distance from the focus node and corresponding to a node size; c) laying out said plurality of nodes positioned based on associated links and sized based on associated degree of interest values in a tree structure; d) identifying and performing any node compression necessary for boundedly displaying said hierarchically linked information based on the layout of said plurality of nodes; and e) displaying said hierarchically linked information based on the layout of said plurality of nodes and node compression on a display area.