Electro-optic modulation is a key function in optical data communication and possible future optical computing engines. The performance of modulators intricately depends on the interaction between the actively modulated material and the propagating waveguide mode. While high-performing modulators were demonstrated before, the approaches were taken as ad-hoc. Here we show the first systematic investigation to incorporate a holistic analysis for high-performance and ultra-compact electro-optic modulators on-chip. We show that intricate interplay between active modulation material and optical mode plays a key role in the device operation. Based on physical tradeoffs such as index modulation, loss, optical confinement factors and slow-light effects, we find that bias-material-mode regions exist where high phase modulation and high loss (absorption) modulation is found. This work paves the way for a holistic design rule of electro-optic modulators for on-chip integration. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.