StickyLand: Breaking the Linear Presentation of Computational Notebooks
This addresses a usability issue for data scientists and notebook users by improving code organization in exploratory workflows, though it is an incremental tool-based solution rather than a fundamental change.
The authors tackled the problem of organizing code in computational notebooks, which have a linear presentation that mismatches the non-linear process of exploratory data analysis, by developing StickyLand, a notebook extension that allows users to organize code non-linearly with sticky cells. The tool enables quick access to notes, instant observation of experiment results, and easy building of interactive dashboards, as demonstrated in case studies that highlight enhanced productivity.
How can we better organize code in computational notebooks? Notebooks have become a popular tool among data scientists, as they seamlessly weave text and code together, supporting users to rapidly iterate and document code experiments. However, it is often challenging to organize code in notebooks, partially because there is a mismatch between the linear presentation of code and the non-linear process of exploratory data analysis. We present StickyLand, a notebook extension for empowering users to freely organize their code in non-linear ways. With sticky cells that are always shown on the screen, users can quickly access their notes, instantly observe experiment results, and easily build interactive dashboards that support complex visual analytics. Case studies highlight how our tool can enhance notebook users's productivity and identify opportunities for future notebook designs. StickyLand is available at https://github.com/xiaohk/stickyland.