12th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies (i-KNOW 2012) 5-7 September 2012 Graz, Austria
An Embeddable Dashboard for Widget-Based Visual Analytics on Scientific Communities Michael Derntl, Stephan Erdtmann, Ralf Klamma RWTH Aachen University Advanced Community Information Systems (ACIS) Informatik 5, Aachen, Germany
[email protected] Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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These presentation slides by Michael Derntl are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Motivation
Scientific results socially created in scientific communities1 Quality of products success of community Stakeholder interest in success factors Classic indices: publications, citations – established communities New publication channels, new collaboration means
– Web 2.0, social media/networks, etc. – Scattered information and large data volumes Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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1W. A.
Kornfeld and C. Hewitt. The Scientic Community Metaphor. IEEE Trans. Syst., Man, and Cybern., SMC-11(1):24-33, 1981.
Data Visualization
Data visualization eases assimilation of information Modern web technologies enable interactive visualizations
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Popular metaphor: dashboards
© Google, Inc.
– One page overview, aggregate data, focus on important data, interactive components
Dashboards and Visual Analytics
Requirements for visual analytics1 – Interactive display supporting exploration and reasoning – Stakeholder oriented flexible view – personalization, …
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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1J.
Dashboard: viable tool for visual analytics on scientific community datasets?
J. Thomas and K. A. Cook, eds. Illuminating the Path: The Research and Development Agenda for Visual Analytics. IEEE, 2005.
Pilot Community: TEL TEL-Map: roadmapping and weak signal analysis in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL); supported by the TEL Mediabase1
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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1M.
Derntl, R. Klamma. A Mediabase for Technology Enhanced Learning in Europe. IEEE Learn. Tech. Newsletter, 14(3):2-5, 2012.
Challenges
Configuring personalized dashboards – Addressing different stakeholder groups – Easy to set up / configure / use for non-technical people – Reusability of the solution beyond the pilot case
Interactive visualization of arbitrary database query results – Different types of charts / graphs – New visualizations should easily be createable – Compatible with existing and new databases
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Objectives
Web-based dashboard for visualising SQL query results Decoupling the hosting application from dashboard application Implementation of
– Dashboard frame containing visualization widgets – Data visualization generator app Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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For pilot case at learningfrontiers.eu: – Dashboard frame as a Drupal module – Reuse of user credendials
Use Cases & GUI
Embedding Application Widget Container Control Pane
Viz 1 Viz n
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Viz 2
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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http://learningfrontiers.eu/?q=dashboard
Widget Creator
Selecting a database connection Entering an SQL query Selecting a visualization type Instant preview using Google Visualization API Publish as OpenSocial widget
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Technical Architecture Dashboard
Visualization Layer
Control Pane
Legend
Widget Container Visualization Widgets
LAS Ajax Client
Lightweight Application Server (LAS)1
Application Layer
LAS HTTP Connector LAS Services LAS Database Connector
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Data Layer 1M.
User & Widget Data
Data DataSources Sourcesfor for Visualization Visualization
Spaniol et al. LAS: A Lightweight Application Server…In Proc. i-KNOW 2006, pp. 592-599, 2006.
Previously existing Newly implemented
End-User Evaluation
Goal – Evaluation of usability and usefulness – Obtain feedback for improvement
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Methodology – Creation of ~20 visualization widgets on 3 TEL-Map databases – Definition of default dashboard for first login – TEL-Map partners / researchers tested according to predefined tasks (=> use cases) – Rating of the test participants has been determined using surveys (18 five-point Likert scale items + 2 open questions) – Collection of usage data (user action log)
Evaluation: Participants
Survey was completed by 20 participants from TEL context On average they
– dedicate 2/3 of their current working time to TEL. – have 8.5 years of experience with TEL
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 (Information Systems) Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Evaluation: Usability Results
Higher scores for usability compared to usefulness Negative correlation (p
