User-Interfaces Supporting Non-Experts in Constructing Visualizations

Primary researcher: Lars Grammel

Partners: IBM Centers for Advanced Studies

Information visualization is becoming a mainstream technology that is being utilized by non-expert users – those who are not necessarily experts in analytic thinking, nor in interpreting and creating visualizations. We aim at providing an empirically grounded understanding of the specific challenges non-experts encounter during visualization construction, and by evaluating cognitive support requirements and design guidelines that stem from this understanding. Specifically, the research goal is to understand how non-experts can be supported during visualization construction such that the efficiency and effectiveness of the visual data analysis process is improved. Through our research, we hope to contribute to the vision of making InfoVis an everyday tool for non-expert users.

Screencasts

Demonstration how the mashup tool developed at the CHISEL group facilitates visual analysis by providing a consistent drag and drop interface with highlighting, instant previews, and explanations. The scenario shown in this screencast uses tsunami and earthquake feeds from the web and visualizes them on map, timeline and list views.

Publications

Supporting end users in analyzing multiple data sources
Lars Grammel, Graduate consortium at IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) 2009.

Creating visualizations through ontology mapping
Sean M. Falconer, R. Ian Bull, Lars Grammel, Margaret-Anne Storey, International Workshop on Ontology Alignment and Visualization, 2009.

An End User Perspective on Mashup Makers
Lars Grammel and Margaret-Anne Storey, Technical Report DCS-324-IR, Department of Computer Science, University of Victoria, September 2008.

Presentations

Visualization Construction by Non-Experts
Lars Grammel, User Interfaces for Visual Analysis and Monitoring in Business Intelligence workshop at CASCON 2009

Supporting end users in analyzing multiple data sources
Lars Grammel, Graduate consortium at IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) 2009

Visual Analytics for Average Business Users
Lars Grammel, Business Intelligence Track at IBM University Days 2009

Visualization Mashups for Casual Users
Lars Grammel and Margaret-Anne Storey, Smart Interactions Track at IBM University Days 2009

An End User Perspective on Mashup Makers
Lars Grammel, End User Development of Enterprise Mashups workshop at CASCON 2008

Posters

Visualization Mashups for Casual Users
Lars Grammel, Margaret-Anne Storey, 2009

End User Development of Visualizations
Lars Grammel, Margaret-Anne Storey, 2008

Organized Workshops

User Interfaces for Visual Analysis and Monitoring in Business Intelligence
Co-organizers: Lars Grammel, Christoph Treude and Margaret-Anne Storey
CASCON 2009

Data and information visualization techniques are becoming increasingly common in business intelligence. By leveraging the strengths of the human perceptual system and incorporating advanced interaction techniques, they support the flexible analysis of data as well as data monitoring by users. In this workshop, current state-of-the-art user interfaces of business intelligence tools will be shown and new research developments will be presented. We will especially focus on the following topics: Visual Analytics Interfaces for Business Intelligence, Dashboards and Mashups for Business Intelligence, Web-based Visualization for Business Intelligence, Collaboration for Business Intelligence, Visualizations and Reports on Mobile Devices for Business Intelligence, Using Large Screen Displays and Tabletops for Business Intelligence.

End User Development of Enterprise Mashups
Co-organizers: Lars Grammel, Margaret-Anne Storey and Leho Nigul
CASCON 2008

Applying mashups in an enterprise context is a unique chance to exploit the power of service-oriented architectures for business users. The ability to modify and create flexible, task-specific mashups enables users to evolve parts of the IT infrastructure to provide the information that will help increase business value. This workshop will address the following topics: How are enterprise mashups used currently? How are they supported by current tools? What research on mashups and end user development is available? What recommendations can be given based on this research? What are the technical aspects of enterprise mashups?