Design Judgment in Data Visualization Practice
This work addresses the problem of oversimplifying design processes in data visualization for practitioners and researchers, though it is incremental in focusing on a less-studied aspect.
The study tackled the gap in understanding the situated and personal aspects of data visualization design by interviewing practitioners and analyzing their processes using a philosophical framework of design judgment, revealing the complexity of judgments beyond formal knowledge.
Data visualization is becoming an increasingly popular field of design practice. Although many studies have highlighted the knowledge required for effective data visualization design, their focus has largely been on formal knowledge and logical decision-making processes that can be abstracted and codified. Less attention has been paid to the more situated and personal ways of knowing that are prevalent in all design activity. In this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with data visualization practitioners during which they were asked to describe the practical and situated aspects of their design processes. Using a philosophical framework of design judgment from Nelson and Stolterman [23], we analyzed the transcripts to describe the volume and complex layering of design judgments that are used by data visualization practitioners as they describe and interrogate their work. We identify aspects of data visualization practice that require further investigation beyond notions of rational, model- or principle-directed decision-making processes.