Papers for

software developers building analytics tools

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Ptolemy creates semantic maps to guide exploratory data analysis

Ptolemy: A Semantic Map of Exploratory Data Analysis

Abstract: A central challenge in exploratory data analysis (EDA) is keeping track of what has already been examined in order to decide what to analyze next. In practice, analysts often run dozens of analyses while building an understanding of a dataset. However, most tools provide little support for maintaining an overview of this evolving process, instead exposing only a linear history of analysis steps. These tools show sequence, what came before, but not position, how a current analysis relates to the broader space of possible analyses. As a result, analysts must mentally reconstruct which parts of the space they have explored and where gaps remain, increasing the risk of redundant work or overlooked patterns. We present Ptolemy, a navigational interface that externalizes analysis history as a semantic map. Each analytic step is represented as a point positioned by embeddings derived from a structured description of its effective data view (e.g., columns, filters, transformations), allowing spatial distance to reflect analytic similarity. In a mixed-methods study comparing map, canvas, and tree representations, we find that maps improve global orientation and local comparison, while ordered layouts reduce decision cost. These findings surface a trade-off between orientation and actionability, and highlight design principles for supporting strategic exploration in EDA.

Tue 15 SeptHuman-Computer Interaction
The gist
When people explore data to find interesting patterns, they often try many different approaches but struggle to keep track of what they have already checked. Most tools only show a list of past steps in order, which doesn’t help users see the bigger picture or find unexplored areas efficiently. The authors designed a tool called Ptolemy that turns the history of analysis into a visual map where the distance between points shows how similar different analyses are. Their study shows that this map helps users understand their overall progress better and compare analyses more easily than other layouts, though there are trade-offs between understanding the big picture and taking quick actions.
Open → 2609.16539v1