Applying a User-centred Approach to Interactive Visualization Design

Analysing users in their context of work and finding out how and why they use different information resources is essential to provide interactive visualisation systems that match their goals and needs. Designers should actively involve the intended users throughout the whole process. This chapter presents a user-centered approach for the design of interactive visualisation systems. We describe three phases of the iterative visualisation design process: the early envisioning phase, the global specification hase, and the detailed specification phase. The whole design cycle is repeated until some criterion of success is reached. We discuss different techniques for the analysis of users, their tasks and domain. Subsequently, the design of prototypes and evaluation methods in visualisation practice are presented. Finally, we discuss the practical challenges in design and evaluation of collaborative visualisation environments. Our own case studies and those of others are used throughout the whole chapter to illustrate various approaches

Conceptual design framework for information visualization to support multidimensional datasets in higher education institutions

Information Visualization (InfoVis) enjoys diverse adoption and applicability because of its strength in solving the problem of information overload inherent in institutional data. Policy and decision makers of higher education institutions (HEIs) are also experiencing information overload while interacting with students‟ data, because of its multidimensionality. This constraints decision making processes, and therefore requires a domain-specific InfoVis conceptual design framework which will birth the domain‟s InfoVis tool. This study therefore aims to design HEI Students‟ data-focused InfoVis (HSDI) conceptual design framework which addresses the content delivery techniques and the systematic processes in actualizing the domain specific InfoVis. The study involved four phases: 1) a users‟ study to investigate, elicit and prioritize the students‟ data-related explicit knowledge preferences of HEI domain policy. The corresponding students‟ data dimensions are then categorised, 2) exploratory study through content analysis of InfoVis design literatures, and subsequent mapping with findings from the users‟ study, to propose the appropriate visualization, interaction and distortion techniques for delivering the domain‟s explicit knowledge preferences, 3) conceptual development of the design framework which integrates the techniques‟ model with its design process–as identified from adaptation of software engineering and InfoVis design models, 4) evaluation of the proposed framework through expert review, prototyping, heuristics evaluation, and users‟ experience evaluation. For an InfoVis that will appropriately present and represent the domain explicit knowledge preferences, support the students‟ data multidimensionality and the decision making processes, the study found that: 1) mouse-on, mouse-on-click, mouse on-drag, drop down menu, push button, check boxes, and dynamics cursor hinting are the appropriate interaction techniques, 2) zooming, overview with details, scrolling, and exploration are the appropriate distortion techniques, and 3) line chart, scatter plot, map view, bar chart and pie chart are the appropriate visualization techniques. The theoretical support to the proposed framework suggests that dictates of preattentive processing theory, cognitive-fit theory, and normative and descriptive theories must be followed for InfoVis to aid perception, cognition and decision making respectively. This study contributes to the area of InfoVis, data-driven decision making process, and HEI students‟ data usage process

P ORTOLAN: a Model-Driven Cartography Framework

Processing large amounts of data to extract useful information is an essential task within companies. To help in this task, visualization techniques have been commonly used due to their capacity to present data in synthesized views, easier to understand and manage. However, achieving the right visualization display for a data set is a complex cartography process that involves several transformation steps to adapt the (domain) data to the (visualization) data format expected by visualization tools. To maximize the benefits of visualization we propose Portolan, a generic model-driven cartography framework that facilitates the discovery of the data to visualize, the specification of view definitions for that data and the transformations to bridge the gap with the visualization tools. Our approach has been implemented on top of the Eclipse EMF modeling framework and validated on three different use cases

Information visualization approach in marine fisheries landing data

This paper studied the landings statistical data in marine fisheries by the state of Terengganu for the period of time 2000 until 2009 and to discuss some of the main features on how information visualization technique can be used as a keystone technology for represent these fisheries data. Information visualization (InfoVis) represents an abstract data in graphical representation concepts in such a way that is more natural or easier for human to comprehend. InfoVis is recognized as one of the important way to help users to study, explore, and present information in fisheries data. Today, this emerging technology is important in fisheries and plays a vital role in developing integrated approaches to fishery management and assessment. It helps to convey relatively complex technical information to scientists, managers and decision makers. Since visualization technology provide a high degree of functionality in sampling design, data assimilation, exploratory data analysis and model development, they will continue to play an increasing significant strategic role in fishery management and assessment

Interactive Visual Analysis of Networked Systems: Workflows for Two Industrial Domains

We report on a first study of interactive visual analysis of networked systems. Working with ABB Corporate Research and Ericsson Research, we have created workflows which demonstrate the potential of visualization in the domains of industrial automation and telecommunications. By a workflow in this context, we mean a sequence of visualizations and the actions for generating them. Visualizations can be any images that represent properties of the data sets analyzed, and actions typically either change the selection of data visualized or change the visualization by choice of technique or change of parameters

A Theoretical Approach Towards Designing InfoVis for Decision Support Effectiveness

Information Visualization (InfoVis) as information systems used in gaining insights of large and multidimensional dataset has gained interest of human computer interaction researchers. The researchers have also craved for more theorybased design models to support designing InfoVis and to enhance its decision support effectiveness. This is a result of the observed insufficiency in the theoretical explanation and model of InfoVis design generally, and its decision support effectiveness, specifically. Extant literature reviewed showed that there is lack of studies that explicitly state the linkage between InfoVis design techniques and respective supporting theories, and how this translate to decision support design of InfoVis. This study therefore employs an unobtrusive research method that involves thematic analysis of InfoVis design and related theoretical literatures, to characterize, categorize and link the InfoVis theories with their respective design techniques. The result is a proposed theoretical design model. The model is therefore used, as a validation process, in the design of StudentViz – an InfoVis to support the multidimensionality of students’ dataset

A Theoretical Approach Towards Designing InfoVis for Decision Support Effectiveness

t—Information Visualization (InfoVis) as information systems used in gaining insights of large and multidimensional dataset has gained interest of human computer interaction researchers.The researchers have also craved for more theorybased design models to support designing InfoVis and to enhance its decision support effectiveness.This is a result of the observed insufficiency in the theoretical explanation and model of InfoVis design generally, and its decision support effectiveness, specifically.Extant literature reviewed showed that there is lack of studies that explicitly state the linkage between InfoVis design techniques and respective supporting theories, and how this translate to decision support design of InfoVis.This study therefore employs an unobtrusive research method that involves thematic analysis of InfoVis design and related theoretical literatures, to characterize, categorize and link the InfoVis theories with their respective design techniques.The result is a proposed theoretical design model.The model is therefore used, as a validation process, in the design of StudentViz – an InfoVis to support the multidimensionality of students’ dataset