Conceptual Design for Sensemaking

Abstract

The focus of sensemaking research is often on process and resources such as "schemas" and "frames". Less attention has been paid to the conceptual structures that make up the schema or frame, or how visualisations can be designed to support users' conceptual structures. In this chapter, we present an approach to gathering user requirements based on the conceptual structures that people are working with when making sense of a domain. We illustrate the approach with examples drawn from our own experience of designing, prototyping and testing an interactive visualisation tool for making sense of academic literature and of studies of sensemaking by lawyers and journalists. We discuss how to move from requirements to design, drawing on a classification of visualisations that highlights their principal conceptual structuring basis. Since each individual makes sense in their own way, it is beneficial to include features that enable people to work with a representation in their own way; for this, appropriation tools are helpful. We discuss the design of such features. Finally, we present an approach to evaluating interactive visualisations in terms of their support for sensemaking, focusing on the quality of the fit between users and system.

Sense-making Strategies for the Interpretation of Visualizations—Bridging the Gap between Theory and Empirical Research

“…Blandford et al [27] point out that most information visualization systems support foraging for information very well, but lack support for the sense-making stage. They argue that every domain has its own conceptual structure that should be supported by appropriate visualizations.…”

Towards an Approach for Analysing External Representations Created During Sensemaking Using Generative Grammar

“…No doubt, different kinds of sensemaking problem call for different kinds of representation. And there are many kinds to choose from differentiated by the entities that are depicted and how these are related (Blandford, Faisal, and Attfield 2014). In the case of reasoning with evidence, in which we take a particular interest here, the literature points in part to the significance of narrative or story as a natural cognitive form involved in evidential reasoning where a story consists of chains of events (actions, happenings) and characters and settings (Chatman, 1980).…”

Requirements for a Dashboard to Support Quality Improvement Teams in Pain Management

“…Visualisations are a means by which sensemaking can be achieved more rapidly than through text (Ware, 2004). Through the use of visualisation tools, data can be abstracted into meaningful visual representations (Blandford et al, 2014) that enable "ah HA!" moments to occur (Spence, 2007).…”

“…moments to occur (Spence, 2007). Conceptual structures of the domain in which the users work promotes sensemaking, as understanding the way in which users think about their activities makes it possible to develop visualisations that capture this structure (Blandford et al, 2014).…”