LECTURE 3 - TASK ABSTRACTION

Barrie Robison

2024-01-23

LAST LECTURE

Computer-based visualization systems provide visual representations of datasets designed to help people carry out tasks more effectively.

TASK ABSTRACTION

Computer-based visualization systems provide visual representations of datasets designed to help people carry out tasks more effectively.

FROM DOMAIN TO ABSTRACTION

KEY COMPONENTS OF TASK ABSTRACTION

{action, target} pairs

Computer-based visualization systems provide visual representations of datasets designed to help people carry out tasks more effectively.

ACTIONS AND TARGETS

ACTIONS - Analyze

  • Consume: Information has already been generated and stored as data.

    • Discover: new knowledge, test hypothesis, generate new hypothesis, verify
    • Present: communicate something specific and already understood
    • Enjoy: casual encounters with visualization
  • Produce: generate new material or information

    • Annotate: addition of graphical or text to existing visualization elements
    • Record: saves or captures visualization elements as persistent artifacts (screenshots, lists, parameter sets, annotations)
    • Derive: produce new data based on existing data (aka transform)

ACTIONS - Query

  • Query: How much of the data matters to the task?

    • Identify: One (specific Item, individual, cell, etc)
    • Compare: Some (multiple targets)
    • Summarize: All (very common, aka Overview)

TARGETS - All Data

TARGETS - Attributes

TARGETS - Other Data

SUMMARY

Computer-based visualization systems provide visual representations of datasets designed to help people carry out tasks more effectively.

MANDATORY FUN

We will do these until everyone has done at least one example.