Design for Synthesis in Geovisualization
Open Access
- Author:
- Robinson, Anthony Christian
- Graduate Program:
- Geography
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 29, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Alan Maceachren, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Cynthia Ann Brewer, Committee Member
Donna Jean Peuquet, Committee Member
Eugene Joseph Lengerich, Committee Member
Karl Stephen Zimmerer, Committee Member - Keywords:
- synthesis
geovisualization
public health
cartography - Abstract:
- Visually-enabled analysis of geographic information with interactive geovisualization tools is increasingly common in domains like disease surveillance, crisis management, and intelligence analysis. As geovisualization tools evolve to support more sophisticated analytical capabilities, the results that emerge from these systems are becoming more abundant and intricate. Current tools provide basic mechanisms for collecting, organizing, and making sense out of multiple results, but little basic research has been done to characterize this task – the synthesis of geovisual information. This study explores the topic of synthesis in the context of infectious disease surveillance. Expert analysts from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and experts from the Penn State Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD), and the Geographic Visualization Science, Technology, and Applications Center (GeoVISTA) were recruited to take part in interviews and experiments to characterize geovisual synthesis. These participants are likely to use, or are already using geovisualization tools to develop analytical results – therefore they stand to benefit from new synthesis support tools. This research employs a mixed qualitative method study to characterize and design for geovisual synthesis. Interviews were conducted with analysts at PNNL to characterize how synthesis is conducted currently and to elicit opinions about how synthesis should be supported in the future. Individual and collaborative synthesis experiments were conducted with participants from PNNL, CIDD, and GeoVISTA to observe synthesis in a simulated real-world scenario. Analysis of experimental and interview data provides insight into the process of geovisual synthesis. Results show that synthesis involves the application of a wide range of organizational metaphors, and that it requires flexible tools that support creative approaches. These results are distilled into a set of empirically-derived design guidelines for new synthesis support tools.