Narges Mahyar

A closer look at note taking in the co-located collaborative visual analytics process

This paper highlights the important role that record-keeping (i.e. taking notes and saving charts) plays in collaborative data analysis within the business domain. The discussion of record-keeping is based on observations from a user study in which co-located teams worked on collaborative visual analytics tasks using large interactive wall and tabletop displays. Part of our findings is a collaborative data analysis framework that encompasses note taking as one of the main activities. We observed that record-keeping was a critical activity within the analysis process. Based on our observations, we characterize notes according to their content, scope, and usage, and describe how they fit into a process of collaborative data analysis. We then discuss suggestions for the design of collaborative visual analytics tools.

Note-taking in co-located collaborative visual analytics: analysis of an observational study

In an observational study, we noticed that record-keeping plays a critical role in the overall process of collaborative visual data analysis. Record-keeping involves recording material for later use, ranging from data about the visual analysis processes and visualization states to notes and annotations that externalize user insights, findings, and hypotheses. In our study, co-located teams worked on collaborative visual analytics tasks using large interactive wall and tabletop displays. Part of our findings is a collaborative data analysis framework that encompasses record-keeping as one of the main activities. In this paper, our primary focus is on note-taking activity. Based on our observations, we characterize notes according to their content, scope, and usage, and describe how they fit into a process of collaborative data analysis. We then discuss suggestions to improve the design of note-taking functionality for co-located collaborative visual analytics tools.

Observations of Record-Keeping in Co-located Collaborative Analysis

Record-keeping is known to facilitate visual data analysis in single user and asynchronous collaborative settings. We Implemented Co Spaces, a tool for collaborative visual data analysis with a record-keeping mechanism that enables tracking of analysis history. Then we conducted an observational study with ten pairs analyzing a sales dataset, to study how collaborators use visual record-keeping during co-located work on a tabletop. We report actions on visual record-keeping and inferred key user intentions for each action. Actions and intentions varied depending on the analytical phase and collaboration style. Based on our findings, we suggest providing various views of recorded material, showing manually saved rather than automatically saved items by default, enabling people to review collaboratorsâ work unobtrusively and automatically recommending items related to a userâs analytical task.

UD Co-Spaces: A Table-Centred Multi-Display Environment for Public Engagement in Urban Design Charrettes

UD Co-Spaces (Urban Design Collaborative Spaces) is an integrated, tabletop-centered multi-display environment for engaging the public in the complex process of collaborative urban design. We describe the iterative user-centered process that we followed over six years through a close interdisciplinary collaboration involving experts in urban design and neighbourhood planning. Versions of UD Co-Spaces were deployed in five real-world charrettes (planning workshops) with 83 participants, a heuristic evaluation with three domain experts, and a qualitative laboratory study with 37 participants. We reflect on our design decisions and how multi-display environments can engage a broad range of stakeholders in decision making and foster collaboration and co-creation within urban design. We examine the parallel use of different displays, each with tailored interactive visualizations, and whether this affects what people can learn about the consequences of their choices for sustainable neighborhoods. We assess UD Co-Spaces using seven principles for collaborative urban design tools that we identified based on literature in urban design, CSCW, and public engagement.

CommunityCrit: Inviting the Public to Improve and Evaluate Urban Design Ideas through Micro-Activities

While urban design affects the public, most people do not have the time or expertise to participate in the process. Many online tools solicit public input, yet typically limit interaction to collecting complaints or early-stage ideas. This paper explores how to engage the public in more complex stages of urban design without requiring a significant time commitment. After observing workshops, we designed a system called CommunityCrit that offers micro-activities to engage communities in elaborating and evaluating urban design ideas. Through a four-week deployment, in partnership with a local planning group seeking to redesign a street intersection, CommunityCrit yielded 352 contributions (around 10 minutes per participant). The planning group reported that CommunityCrit provided insights on public perspectives and raised awareness for their project, but noted the importance of setting expectations for the process. People appreciated that the system provided a window into the planning process, empowered them to contribute, and supported diverse levels of skills and availability.

ConsesnsUs: Visualizing Points of Disagreement for Multi-Criteria Collaborative Decision Making

Groups often face difficulty reaching consensus. For complex decisions with multiple latent criteria, discourse alone may impede groups from pinpointing fundamental disagreements. To help support a consensus building process, we introduce ConsensUs, a novel visualization tool that highlights disagreements in comparative decisions. The tool fa cilitates groups to specify comparison criteria and to quantify their subjective opinions across these criteria. ConsensUs then highlights salient differences between members. An evaluation with 87 participants shows that ConsensUs helps individuals identify points of disagreement within groups and leads people to align their scores more with the group opinion. We discuss the larger design space for supporting the group consensus process, and our future directions to extend this approach to large-scale decision making platforms.

Supporting note taking in co-located collaborative visual analytics on large interactive surfaces

My research examines how to support note taking in colocated collaborative visual data analysis. My preliminary observational study revealed the importance of note taking as one of the main analytical processes. This finding motivated me to further investigate note taking in the context of co-located collaborative visual analytics. I participated in designing and implementing CoSpaces, a tool specifically tailored for collaborative visual data analysis on tabletop displays. This tool provides a framework for collaborative data analysis, in which note taking mechanisms can be studied. Initially a simple note taking mechanism involving text notes recorded via an on-screen keyboard was implemented. However, a usability study found this to be insufficient. Because of my observation that users frequently used the automatically created links between notes and visualizations to access more information, I aim to investigate the effects of semi-automatic note taking mechanisms built into a collaborative visual analysis tool. I am planning to provide analysts with editable note-templates populated with information related to the current line of inquiry. I hypothesize that note-templates could improve the collaboration process by improving the structure of notes for group use. Evaluation will be done through qualitative user studies. Findings of this research will inform the design of future collaborative tools for visual analysis of data.