While previous work exists on how to conduct and disseminate insights from problem-driven visualization projects and design studies, the literature does not address how to accomplish these goals in transdisciplinary teams in ways that advance all disciplines involved. In this paper we introduce and define a new methodological paradigm we call design by immersion, which provides an alternative perspective on problem-driven visualization work. Design by immersion embeds transdisciplinary experiences at the center of the visualization process by having visualization researchers participate in the work of the target domain (or domain experts participate in visualization research). Based on our own combined experiences of working on cross-disciplinary, problemdriven visualization projects, we present six case studies that expose the opportunities that design by immersion enables, including (1) exploring new domain-inspired visualization design spaces, (2) enriching domain understanding through personal experiences, and (3) building strong transdisciplinary relationships. Furthermore, we illustrate how the process of design by immersion opens up a diverse set of design activities that can be combined in different ways depending on the type of collaboration, project, and goals. Finally, we discuss the challenges and potential pitfalls of design by immersion.

No abstract

In certain startling neurological and psychiatric conditions, what is ordinarily most intimate and familiar to us-our own body-can feel alien.

Fig. 1: To create a report, the user first explores the different visualization layers, extracts events, and specifies the relevant information for each of them to be included in the report. The collection of all event cards created in an analysis session is combined in a single insight report and can be exported as a PDF document.

The paper is based on the proposition that offshore workers are not sufficiently focused on issues that have the potential to lead to a major incident. On the contrary, for many years offshore workers have been motivated to focus on issues that could lead to personal injuries and lost time incidents. The most severe consequence of these personal injuries would be one fatality, as compared with the tens or hundreds of potential fatalities potentially associated with a major incident.Significant manpower has been used both on and offshore to train personnel to protect themselves and others to avoid personal injuries. This often involves simple actions, that are easy to understand and with little cost to the company. By contrast, the resources used on prediction and avoidance of issues that could lead to major accidents are not sufficient at many levels in offshore organisations.In order to reduce the risk of major accidents the required actions are often complex, sometimes expensive, and not easy for everybody to understand. The risk of major failure is limited, but the consequences are large if a failure should occur. As an example of this principle, records show that since 1967 fatalities due to major accidents have been 53% of the total number of fatalities on the Norwegian continental shelf. If helicopter accidents are included the percentage is 73 %.These issues have been illustrated by a survey of several hundred personnel on offshore facilities. The results from the survey are clear and show that there is a need for change in the daily focus of the safety work on offshore installations.