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RemixTape: Enriching Narratives about Metrics with Semantic Alignment and Contextual Recommendation

Matthew Brehmer, Margaret Drouhard, Arjun Srinivasan

TL;DR

RemixTape addresses the need for richer, narrative-oriented conversations around time-series metrics in enterprise BI. It introduces a hierarchical canvas of scenes and VizCards that supports semantic alignment, contextual annotations, and context-aware recommendations to build structured metric narratives. Through a formative interview study and a user study with six professionals, the work demonstrates RemixTape as a plausible alternative to dashboards, galleries, and slide decks for metric storytelling, while also identifying onboarding and interaction challenges. The paper contributes design imperatives for visualization remixing, proposes an architecture for organizing metric assets, and calls for a formal foundation to guide future narrative visualization tools.

Abstract

The temporal dynamics of quantitative metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) are central to conversations in enterprise organizations. Recently, major business intelligence providers have introduced new infrastructure for defining, sharing, and monitoring metric values. However, these values are often presented in isolation and appropriate context is seldom externalized. In this design study, we present REMIXTAPE, an application for constructing structured narratives around metrics. With design imperatives grounded in prior work and a formative interview study, REMIXTAPE provides a hierarchical canvas for collecting and coordinating sequences of line chart representations of metrics, along with the ability to externalize situational context around them. REMIXTAPE includes affordances to semantically align and annotate juxtaposed charts and text, as well as recommendations of complementary charts based on metrics already present on the canvas. We evaluated REMIXTAPE in a study in which six enterprise data professionals reproduced and extended partial narratives. They appreciated REMIXTAPE as a novel alternative to dashboards, galleries, and slide presentations for supporting conversations about metrics. We conclude with a reflection on our design choices and process, with a call to define a conceptual foundation for remixing in the context of visualization.

RemixTape: Enriching Narratives about Metrics with Semantic Alignment and Contextual Recommendation

TL;DR

RemixTape addresses the need for richer, narrative-oriented conversations around time-series metrics in enterprise BI. It introduces a hierarchical canvas of scenes and VizCards that supports semantic alignment, contextual annotations, and context-aware recommendations to build structured metric narratives. Through a formative interview study and a user study with six professionals, the work demonstrates RemixTape as a plausible alternative to dashboards, galleries, and slide decks for metric storytelling, while also identifying onboarding and interaction challenges. The paper contributes design imperatives for visualization remixing, proposes an architecture for organizing metric assets, and calls for a formal foundation to guide future narrative visualization tools.

Abstract

The temporal dynamics of quantitative metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) are central to conversations in enterprise organizations. Recently, major business intelligence providers have introduced new infrastructure for defining, sharing, and monitoring metric values. However, these values are often presented in isolation and appropriate context is seldom externalized. In this design study, we present REMIXTAPE, an application for constructing structured narratives around metrics. With design imperatives grounded in prior work and a formative interview study, REMIXTAPE provides a hierarchical canvas for collecting and coordinating sequences of line chart representations of metrics, along with the ability to externalize situational context around them. REMIXTAPE includes affordances to semantically align and annotate juxtaposed charts and text, as well as recommendations of complementary charts based on metrics already present on the canvas. We evaluated REMIXTAPE in a study in which six enterprise data professionals reproduced and extended partial narratives. They appreciated REMIXTAPE as a novel alternative to dashboards, galleries, and slide presentations for supporting conversations about metrics. We conclude with a reflection on our design choices and process, with a call to define a conceptual foundation for remixing in the context of visualization.
Paper Structure (22 sections, 2 figures)

This paper contains 22 sections, 2 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background and Related Work
  3. Communicating Around Data in the Enterprise
  4. Arranging and Coordinating Multiple Views
  5. Externalizing Situational Context
  6. Visualization Recommendation
  7. Visualizing Metrics over Time
  8. Formative Interview Study
  9. RemixTape
  10. Arranging and Semantically Aligning Views (D1)
  11. Adding Situational Context (D2)
  12. Recommending Charts from Context (D3)
  13. Usage Scenario
  14. User Study
  15. Participants
  16. ...and 7 more sections

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Examples of VizCard interaction affordances. (L) Clicking in the top margin provides options to filter, split, or obfuscate selected time spans. (R) Clicking in the right margin annotates the chart with a horizontal reference line to emphasize specific values.
  • Figure 2: Using RemixTape to construct a narrative about COVID-19 and housing sales. (A) Initial VizCards recommendations for a blank canvas. (B) Hovering over a TextCard element referencing Nov 2021---Feb 2022 ephemerally highlights the corresponding time span in a juxtaposed VizCard (D2). (C) Options for Arranging and Semantically Aligning Views (D1). (D) A recommended VizCard of the People Tested metric exhibits a trend similar to one seen in the preceding VizCard ( Positives). An option to merge () the two VizCards appears after adding the People TestedVizCard to the scene. (E) A VizCard depicting two metrics ( Homes Sold and Positives) appears when manually selecting metrics from the metric list. (F) A recommendation of an overview VizCard appears when a scene contains VizCards with filtered time spans (D3).