Interaction Tools to Support Knowledge Discovery: A Case Study Using Data Explorer and Tcl/Tk
Ray Masters, Rob Edsall · 2000
In this paper we present an approach for creating a software environment and user interface that are appropriate for the process of constructing knowledge from large spatiotemporal data sets. Central to the theoretical framework of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) is the process of iterative user interaction and the ability of the human content expert to work closely with the computer to uncover and recognize interesting and meaningful patterns in data. Cognitive research indicates that the design of visual representations and interaction techniques can influence a user's conceptualization of the phenomenon represented. As such, a productive human-computer dialogue, key to effective knowledge discovery, often relies on highbandwidth, discipline-specific, even user-specific, interactors. These interactors are not just jazzy radio buttons or sliders, but mechanisms that help one think and create, prompting mental models that can be exploited in the next iteration of the knowledge c...