Analyzing the Information Search Behavior and Intentions in Visual Information Systems

Visual information search systems support different search approaches such as targeted, exploratory or analytical search. Those visual systems deal with the challenge of composing optimal initial result visualization sets that face the search intention and respond to the search behavior of users. The diversity of these kinds of search tasks require different sets of visual layouts and functionalities, e.g. to filter, thrill-down or even analyze concrete data properties. This paper describes a new approach to calculate the probability towards the three mentioned search intentions, derived from users’ behavior. The implementation is realized as a web-service, which is included in a visual environment that is designed to enable various search strategies based on heterogeneous data sources. In fact, based on an entered search query our developed search intention analysis web-service calculates the most probable search task, and our visualization system initially shows the optimal result set of visualizations to solve the task. The main contribution of this paper is a probability-based approach to derive the users’ search intentions based on the search behavior enhanced by the application to a visual system

Adaptive Semantics Visualization

Human access to the increasing amount of information and data plays an essential role for the professional level and also for everyday life. While information visualization has developed new and remarkable ways for visualizing data and enabling the exploration process, adaptive systems focus on users’ behavior to tailor information for supporting the information acquisition process. Recent research on adaptive visualization shows promising ways of synthesizing these two complementary approaches and make use of the surpluses of both disciplines. The emerged methods and systems aim to increase the performance, acceptance, and user experience of graphical data representations for a broad range of users. Although the evaluation results of the recently proposed systems are promising, some important aspects of information visualization are not considered in the adaptation process. The visual adaptation is commonly limited to change either visual parameters or replace visualizations entirely. Further, no existing approach adapts the visualization based on data and user characteristics. Other limitations of existing approaches include the fact that the visualizations require training by experts in the field. In this thesis, we introduce a novel model for adaptive visualization. In contrast to existing approaches, we have focused our investigation on the potentials of information visualization for adaptation. Our reference model for visual adaptation not only considers the entire transformation, from data to visual representation, but also enhances it to meet the requirements for visual adaptation. Our model adapts different visual layers that were identified based on various models and studies on human visual perception and information processing. In its adaptation process, our conceptual model considers the impact of both data and user on visualization adaptation. We investigate different approaches and models and their effects on system adaptation to gather implicit information about users and their behavior. These are than transformed and applied to affect the visual representation and model human interaction behavior with visualizations and data to achieve a more appropriate visual adaptation. Our enhanced user model further makes use of the semantic hierarchy to enable a domain-independent adaptation. To face the problem of a system that requires to be trained by experts, we introduce the canonical user model that models the average usage behavior with the visualization environment. Our approach learns from the behavior of the average user to adapt the different visual layers and transformation steps. This approach is further enhanced with similarity and deviation analysis for individual users to determine similar behavior on an individual level and identify differing behavior from the canonical model. Users with similar behavior get similar visualization and data recommendations, while behavioral anomalies lead to a lower level of adaptation. Our model includes a set of various visual layouts that can be used to compose a multi-visualization interface, a sort of "‘visualization cockpit"’. This model facilitates various visual layouts to provide different perspectives and enhance the ability to solve difficult and exploratory search challenges. Data from different data-sources can be visualized and compared in a visual manner. These different visual perspectives on data can be chosen by users or can be automatically selected by the system. This thesis further introduces the implementation of our model that includes additional approaches for an efficient adaptation of visualizations as proof of feasibility. We further conduct a comprehensive user study that aims to prove the benefits of our model and underscore limitations for future work. The user study with overall 53 participants focuses with its four conditions on our enhanced reference model to evaluate the adaptation effects of the different visual layers

Adaptive semantics visualization

This book introduces a novel approach for intelligent visualizations that adapts the different visual variables and data processing to human’s behavior and given tasks. Thereby a number of new algorithms and methods are introduced to satisfy the human need of information and knowledge and enable a usable and attractive way of information acquisition. Each method and algorithm is illustrated in a replicable way to enable the reproduction of the entire “SemaVis” system or parts of it. The introduced evaluation is scientifically well-designed and performed with more than enough participants to validate the benefits of the methods. Beside the introduced new approaches and algorithms, readers may find a sophisticated literature review in Information Visualization and Visual Analytics, Semantics and information extraction, and intelligent and adaptive systems. This book is based on an awarded and distinguished doctoral thesis in computer science

Adaptive Semantics Visualization

Human access to the increasing amount of information and data plays an essential role for the professional level and also for everyday life. While information visualization has developed new and remarkable ways for visualizing data and enabling the exploration process, adaptive systems focus on users’ behavior to tailor information for supporting the information acquisition process. Recent research on adaptive visualization shows promising ways of synthesizing these two complementary approaches and make use of the surpluses of both disciplines. The emerged methods and systems aim to increase the performance, acceptance, and user experience of graphical data representations for a broad range of users. Although the evaluation results of the recently proposed systems are promising, some important aspects of information visualization are not considered in the adaptation process. The visual adaptation is commonly limited to change either visual parameters or replace visualizations entirely. Further, no existing approach adapts the visualization based on data and user characteristics. Other limitations of existing approaches include the fact that the visualizations require training by experts in the field. In this thesis, we introduce a novel model for adaptive visualization. In contrast to existing approaches, we have focused our investigation on the potentials of information visualization for adaptation. Our reference model for visual adaptation not only considers the entire transformation, from data to visual representation, but also enhances it to meet the requirements for visual adaptation. Our model adapts different visual layers that were identified based on various models and studies on human visual perception and information processing. In its adaptation process, our conceptual model considers the impact of both data and user on visualization adaptation. We investigate different approaches and models and their effects on system adaptation to gather implicit information about users and their behavior. These are than transformed and applied to affect the visual representation and model human interaction behavior with visualizations and data to achieve a more appropriate visual adaptation. Our enhanced user model further makes use of the semantic hierarchy to enable a domain-independent adaptation. To face the problem of a system that requires to be trained by experts, we introduce the canonical user model that models the average usage behavior with the visualization environment. Our approach learns from the behavior of the average user to adapt the different visual layers and transformation steps. This approach is further enhanced with similarity and deviation analysis for individual users to determine similar behavior on an individual level and identify differing behavior from the canonical model. Users with similar behavior get similar visualization and data recommendations, while behavioral anomalies lead to a lower level of adaptation. Our model includes a set of various visual layouts that can be used to compose a multi-visualization interface, a sort of "‘visualization cockpit"’. This model facilitates various visual layouts to provide different perspectives and enhance the ability to solve difficult and exploratory search challenges. Data from different data-sources can be visualized and compared in a visual manner. These different visual perspectives on data can be chosen by users or can be automatically selected by the system. This thesis further introduces the implementation of our model that includes additional approaches for an efficient adaptation of visualizations as proof of feasibility. We further conduct a comprehensive user study that aims to prove the benefits of our model and underscore limitations for future work. The user study with overall 53 participants focuses with its four conditions on our enhanced reference model to evaluate the adaptation effects of the different visual layers

Visual Variables in Adaptive Visualizations : Presented at the 1st International Workshop on User-Adaptive Visualization (WUAV 2013)

Visualizations provide various variables for the adaptation to the usage context and the users. Today's adaptive visualizations make use of various visual variables to order or filter information or visualizations. However, the capabilities of visual variables in context of human information processing and tasks are not comprehensively exploited. This paper discusses the value of the different visual variables providing beneficial and more accurately adapted information visualizations

Dynamic process support based on users' behavior

Nowadays there is a gap between the possibilities and the massively existing data on the one side and the user as main worker on the other side. In different scenarios e.g. search, exploration, analysis and policy-modeling a user has to deal with massive information, but for this work he usually gets a static designed system. So meanwhile data-driven work-processes are increasing in its complexity the support of the users who are working with these data is limited on basic features. Hence this paper describes a concept for a process-supporting approach, which includes relevant aspects of users' behaviors in support him to successfully finish also complex tasks. This will be achieved by a process-based guidance with an automatic tools selection for every process and activity on the one hand. And on the other hand the consideration of expert-level of a user to a single task and process. This expert-level will be classified during each task and process interaction and allow the automatically selection of optimal tools for a concrete task. In final the user gets for every task an automatically initialized user-interface with useful and required tools

Intuitive authoring on web: A user-centered software design approach

To motivate users to work with computer-based systems, to enhance their usage frequency, and to avoid that users get frustrated while working with computer-based systems, it is necessary to respond to the users as much as possible. User-centered software approaches try to assume all the wishes and demands of users. This paper presents a step-by-step introduction to a user-centered software development process. First, a definition of the term "intuitive" in the context of software development will be given. Furthermore, the development process will be explained as a combination of existing user-centered design processes. The implementation of an authoring tool in the European UNITE project, which uses the presented design approach, gives an insight into the development process and the results of the design approach

Visual Variables in Adaptive Visualizations

Abstract. Visualizations provide various variables for the adaptation to the usage context and the users. Today’s adaptive visualizations make use of various visual variables to order or filter information or visualizations. However, the capabilities of visual variables in context of human information processing and tasks are not comprehensively exploited. This paper discusses the value of the different visual variables providing beneficial and more accurately adapted information visualizations

From raw data to rich visualization: Combining visual search with data analysis

Visual analytics is an interdisciplinary field of research at the boundary between data mining, statistics and visualization. Patterns and relations in the data complement a semantic representation of knowledge on a lower level of abstraction. One important goal of visual analytics is to find relations hidden in vast amounts of data, which can be turned into useful knowledge. Analysis needs to be "visual", because human's visual cognitive abilities are important for the identification and refinement of the analytical process. Further the results of the analysis have to be presented in a way to match the user's perspective on the proposed task. However, typical users are not experts in statistics or data mining. The challenge of visual analytics is to keep domain experts in charge of the analytical process while reducing the workload due to the complexity of the techniques. While search and analysis usually are mentioned in different contexts, they are highly interdependent processes. In fact, every exploratory analysis is a search for new knowledge. In turn, this knowledge can be used to refine future searches by introducing new concepts or relations to draw from. This article will show how automated and visual methods can be combined to connect knowledge artifacts on multiple levels of abstraction

Web-based Evaluation of Information Visualization

Information visualization is strongly related to human perception, human behavior, and in particular human interaction. It is a discipline that focuses on human to enable him gathering insights, knowledge, and solving various and heterogeneous tasks. The human-centered characteristic of information visualization requires valid and proper user studies that improve the system or validate their benefits. New methods, techniques, or approaches of information visualization are commonly evaluated. However, the evaluation is either time and cost consuming or they are made minimum resources that leads to results, which may not be valid. In particular the number of participants is commonly restricted and does not enable a valid assumption about the results. Thus performance measures plays a key role in information visualization, existing web-survey tools are not convenient. We introduce in this paper a new method that enables web-based evaluations of information visualization systems. Our main contribution is the enhancement of web-based survey tools with performance measures. Our approach enables the measurement of task-completion time, correctness of solved tasks, and includes a number of pre- and post-questionnaires