Bridging the gap between user intention and model parameters for human-in-the-loop data analytics

Abstract

Exploratory data analysis is challenging given the complexity of data. Models find structure in the data lessening the complexity for users. These models have parameters that can be adjusted to explore the data from many different angles providing more ways to learn about the data. "Human in the loop" means users can interact with the parameters to explore alternative structures. This exploration allows for discovery. This paper examines usability issues of Human-Model Interaction (HMI) for data analytics. In particular, we bridge the gaps between a user's intention and the parameters of a WMDS model during HMI communication. CCS Concepts • Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI) → HCI design and evaluation methods → User studies.

Observation-Level Interaction with Clustering and Dimension Reduction Algorithms

“…In contrast to explicit clustering systems, Andromeda [21] projects high-dimensional data into two dimensions using a method combining OLI with parametric interaction. Though similar data points implicitly cluster into groups, explicit clusters are not defined.…”

“…Indications and feedback from previous studies [1,9] have shown that users favor clusters in the sensemaking process. These include systems with explicit clusters that are created to spatially organize information on the display (for example, iVisClustering [17]) and those that naturally develop due to the underlying layout updating through expressive interactions (for example, Andromeda [21]). It is therefore surprising that clusters are not explicitly defined in many OLI systems; rather, they implicitly exist in the layout structure.…”

“…In addition, explicitly defining the clusters in this model allows us to easily solve the OLI "with respect to what" problem (discussed in [21]). In a visualization with dozens or hundreds of points, it is difficult to identify what each expressive data manipulation is moving with respect to: is the user moving the current node away from some set of points (and which points), or towards some set of points (and which points), or is the user merely organizing the node in an exploratory interaction?…”

“…to more complex multi-model pipelines [4] and systems combining OLI with parametric interaction [21]. Our contribution in this work is the proposal, implementation, and evaluation of this cluster-based OLI model.…”

Simultaneous interaction with dimension reduction and clustering projections

“…"What respect to what" was described as a usability issue with direct manipulations in interactive projections by Self et al [9]. This usability issue revolves around interpreting the analyst's intent accurately.…”