Grounded Evaluation for Information Visualization
Researchers
- Petra Isenberg (back then I was called Petra Neumann)
- Torre Zuk
- Christopher Collins
- Sheelagh Carpendale
Summary
We argue that grounded evaluation is a useful and necessary step in evaluation for information visualization. We describe grounded evaluation as a process that attempts to ensure that the evaluation of an information visualization tool is situated within the context of its intended use. We discuss the process and scope of grounded evaluation in general, and then describe how qualitative inquiry may be a beneficial approach as part of this process. We advocate for increased attention to the field of qualitative inquiry early in the information visualization development life cycle, as it tries to achieve a richer understanding by using a more holistic approach considering the interplay between factors that influence visualizations, their development, and their use. We present three case studies in which we successfully used observational techniques to inform our understanding of the visual analytics process in groups, medical diagnostic reasoning, and visualization use among computational linguists.