In the pursuit of more-than-human approaches to designing it is a challenge to understand the plurality of more-than-human worlds, especially the multiplicity of the more-than-human lives or biographies of things designed. In this pictorial, we experiment with speculative mapping as a process to explore pluralities of a thing we designed, called wi-fi-no-wi-fi. Using the wi-fi-no-wi-fi as a case study, we speculated through workshops, empirical investigations, and speculation to create speculative maps of different biographies. This pictorial offers three speculative maps and revealed design insights into materials as time, forming of assemblages and spaces, and multispecies perspectives of regeneration.

Providing data visualization authoring tools for the general public remains an ongoing challenge. Inspired by block-printing, we explore how visualization stamps as a physical visualization authoring tool could leverage both visual freedom and ease of repetition. We conducted a workshop with two groups---visualization experts and non-experts---where participants authored visualizations on paper using hand-carved stamps made from potatoes and sponges. The low-fidelity medium freed participants to test new stamp patterns and accept mistakes. From the created visualizations, we observed several unique traits and uses of block-printing tools for visualization authoring, including: modularity of patterns, annotation guides, creation of multiple patterns from one stamp, and various techniques to apply data onto paper. We discuss the issues around expressivity and effectiveness of block-printed stamps in visualization authoring, and identify implications for the design and assembly of primitives in potential visualization stamp kits, as well as applications for future use in non-digital environments.

In improvisational theatre (improv), actors perform unscripted scenes together, collectively creating a narrative. Audience suggestions introduce randomness and build audience engagement, but can be challenging to mediate at scale. We present Robot Improv Puppet Theatre (RIPT), which includes a performance robot (Pokey) who performs gestures and dialogue in short-form improv scenes based on audience input from a mobile interface. We evaluated RIPT in several initial informal performances, and in a rehearsal with seven professional improvisers. The improvisers noted how audience prompts can have a big impact on the scene - highlighting the delicate balance between ambiguity and constraints in improv. The open structure of RIPT performances allows for multiple interpretations of how to perform with Pokey, including one-on-one conversations or multi-performer scenes. While Pokey lacks key qualities of a good improviser, improvisers found his serendipitous dialogue and gestures particularly rewarding.

We empirically evaluate the extent to which people perceive non-constant time and speed encoded on 2D paths. In our graphical perception study, we evaluate nine encodings from the literature for both straight and curved paths. Visualizing time and speed information is a challenge when the x and y axes already encode other data dimensions, for example when plotting a trip on a map. This is particularly true in disciplines such as time-geography and movement analytics that often require visualizing spatio-temporal trajectories. A common approach is to use 2D+time trajectories, which are 2D paths for which time is an additional dimension. However, there are currently no guidelines regarding how to represent time and speed on such paths. Our study results provide InfoVis designers with clear guidance regarding which encodings to use and which ones to avoid; in particular, we suggest using color value to encode speed and segment length to encode time whenever possible.

We investigate whether the notion of active reading for text might be usefully applied to visualizations. Through a qualitative study we explored whether people apply observable active reading techniques when reading paper-based node-link visualizations. Participants used a range of physical actions while reading, and from these we synthesized an initial set of active reading techniques for visualizations. To learn more about the potential impact such techniques may have on visualization reading, we implemented support for one type of physical action from our observations (making freeform marks) in an interactive node-link visualization. Results from our quantitative study of this implementation show that interactive support for active reading techniques can improve the accuracy of performing low-level visualization tasks. Together, our studies suggest that the active reading space is ripe for research exploration within visualization and can lead to new interactions that make for a more flexible and effective visualization reading experience.

Abstract Providing tools that make visualization authoring accessible to visualization non‐experts is a major research challenge. Currently the most common approach to generating a visualization is to use software that quickly and automatically produces visualizations based on templates. However, it has recently been suggested that constructing a visualization with tangible tiles may be a more accessible method, especially for people without visualization expertise. There is still much to be learned about the differences between these two visualization authoring practices. To better understand how people author visualizations in these two conditions, we ran a qualitative study comparing the use of software to the use of tangible tiles, for the creation of bar charts. Close observation of authoring activities showed how each of the following varied according to the tool used: 1) sequences of action; 2) distribution of time spent on different aspects of the InfoVis pipeline; 3) pipeline task separation; and 4) freedom to manipulate visual variables. From these observations, we discuss the implications of the variations in activity sequences, noting tool design considerations and pointing to future research questions.

Software is typically developed incrementally and released in stages. Planning these releases involves deciding which features of the system should be implemented for each release. This is a complex planning process involving numerous trade-offs-constraints and factors that often make decisions difficult. Since the success of a product depends on this plan, it is important to understand the trade-offs between different release plans in order to make an informed choice. We present STRATOS, a tool that simultaneously visualizes several software release plans. The visualization shows several attributes about each plan that are important to planners. Multiple plans are shown in a single layout to help planners find and understand the trade-offs between alternative plans. We evaluated our tool via a qualitative study and found that STRATOS enables a range of decision-making processes, helping participants decide on which plan is most optimal.