Building and Applying a Human Cognition Model for Visual Analytics

Abstract

It is well known that visual analytics addresses the difficulty of evaluating and processing large quantities of information. Less often discussed are the increasingly complex analytic and reasoning processes that must be applied in order to accomplish that goal. Success of the visual analytics approach will require us to develop new visualization models that predict how computational processes might facilitate human insight and guide the flow of human reasoning. In this paper, we seek to advance visualization methods by proposing a framework for human "higher cognition" that extends more familiar perceptual models.Based on this approach, we suggest guidelines for the development of visual interfaces that better integrate complementary capabilities of humans and computers. While many of these recommendations are novel, some can be found in existing visual analytics applications. In the latter case, much of the value of our contribution lies in the deeper rationale that the model provides for those principles. We then assess these visual analytics guidelines through the evaluation of several visualization examples. Lastly, we discuss steps that can be taken towards a predictive human cognition model.

Co-located Collaborative Sensemaking on a Large High-Resolution Display with Multiple Input Devices

“…Multiple input devices provide the benefit of allowing reticent users to contribute to the task [18,19]. As a result of our desire to keep participants in the "cognitive zone" [20], given the cognitively demanding nature of sensemaking tasks, we chose to implement multiple input devices for our set-up.…”

The Impact of Secondary Notation on Process Model Understanding

“…Green et al describe expertise from a cognitive sciences point of view. "Expertise is not only a characteristic of higher-order cognitive logic but also of perceptual logic, that can be trained to better support cognitive operations through 'perceptual expertise'" [18]. The aspect that expertise is based on trained skills and gained knowledge seems to be of the utmost importance.…”

Toward a Deeper Understanding of Data Analysis, Sensemaking, and Signature Discovery

“…The participants of our study commented that recalling their process after a focused data analysis session is difficult. Analytic provenance support in such tools need s to strike a fine balance between allowing users to maintain this "cognitive zone" [24] during analysis, and encouraging users to record and annotate their process. Our participants commented that such provenance support should not interfere with the actual data analysis process.…”