2026
@inproceedings{saharan2026normative,
author = {Saharan, Shehryar and Al-Hazwani, Ibrahim and Meyer, Miriah and Garrison, Laura Ann},
title = {A critical reflection on the values and assumptions
in data visualization},
booktitle = {Proc CHI 2026"},
year = {2026},
numpages = {8},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York},
doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2602.22051},
abstract = {Visualization has matured into an established research field, producing widely adopted tools, design frameworks, and empirical foundations. As the field has grown, ideas from outside computer science have increasingly entered visualization discourse, questioning the fundamental values and assumptions on which visualization research stands. In this short position paper, we examine a set of values that we see underlying the seminal works of Jacques Bertin, John Tukey, Leland Wilkinson, Colin Ware, and Tamara Munzner. We articulate three prominent values in these texts — universality, objectivity, and efficiency — and examine how these values permeate visualization tools, curricula, and research practices. We situate these values within a broader set of critiques that call for more diverse priorities and viewpoints. By articulating these tensions, we call for our community to embrace a more pluralistic range of values to shape our future visualization tools and guidelines.},
pdf = {pdfs/saharan2026normative.pdf},
images = {images/saharan2026normative.png},
thumbnails = {images/saharan2026normative_thumb.png},
}2025
[Bibtex] @inproceedings{balaka2025mobaexplorer,
title = {The MoBa GWAS Explorer: Designing Approachable Visualizations of GWAS Data for a Mixed Audience},
author = {Balaka, Hanna and Vaudel, Marc and Garrison, Laura},
booktitle = {Proceedings of VAHC workshop at IEEE VIS},
year = {2025},
numpages = {7},
abstract = {Public health studies generate extensive datasets providing important insights into human health. The Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) is a longitudinal cohort study capturing information on pregnancy and early childhood. This information helps uncover the genetic underpinnings of traits or diseases drawing interest from researchers in public health. Non-experts are also attracted to the study, both to understand their contributions as data donors and relevant health determinants. However, the complexity of MoBa data hinders its exploration, analysis, and dissemination. We present a design study exploring the needs and uses of the MoBa dataset in a mixed-user context and introducing the MoBa GWAS Explorer, a web-based visual tool for exploration and analysis of MoBa data by a mixed audience. This tool supports experts in exploring and analyzing MoBa data interactively. Though designed primarily for researchers, we explored the potential for onboarding strategies to make this tool more approachable for non-experts. We conducted a qualitative study with both user groups to evaluate their experience with the tool and its usability. Our evaluation indicates that the application, along with the integrated onboarding, has potential to serve both expert and non-expert groups. Supplementary materials for this study are available at https://osf.io/k5bvj/.},
pdf = {pdfs/balaka2025mobaexplorer.pdf},
thumbnails = {images/balaka2025mobaexplorer_thumb.png},
images = {images/balaka2025mobaexplorer.png},
git = {https://osf.io/k5bvj/},
}
@inproceedings{zhang2025melodification,
title = {Data Melodification FM: Where Musical Rhetoric Meets Sonification},
author = {Zhang, Ke Er Amy and Grellscheid, David and Garrison, Laura},
booktitle = {Proceedings of alt.VIS workshop at IEEE VIS},
year = {2025},
numpages = {5},
eprint = {2510.00222},
archiveprefix = {arXiv},
primaryclass = {cs.HC},
doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2510.00222},
abstract = {We propose a design space for data melodification, where standard visualization idioms and fundamental data characteristics map to rhetorical devices of music for a more affective experience of data. Traditional data sonification transforms data into sound by mapping it to different parameters such as pitch, volume, and duration. Often and regrettably, this mapping leaves behind melody, harmony, rhythm and other musical devices that compose the centuries-long persuasive and expressive power of music. What results is the occasional, unintentional sense of tinnitus and horror film-like impending doom caused by a disconnect between the semantics of data and sound. Through this work we ask, can the aestheticization of sonification through (classical) music theory make data simultaneously accessible, meaningful, and pleasing to one’s ears?},
pdf = {pdfs/zhang2025melodification.pdf},
thumbnails = {images/zhang2025melodification_thumb.png},
images = {images/zhang2025melodification.png},
git = {https://osf.io/zx3ac/},
}
@article{ziman2025genaixbiomedvis,
title={"It looks sexy but it's wrong." Tensions in creativity and accuracy using genAI for biomedical visualization},
author = {Ziman, Roxanne and Saharan, Shehryar and McGill, Ga\"{e}l and Garrison, Laura},
journal = {arXiv, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics--in press},
year = {2025},
numpages = {11},
publisher = {arXiv},
doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2507.14494},
abstract = {We contribute an in-depth analysis of the workflows and tensions arising from generative AI (genAI) use in biomedical visualization (BioMedVis). Although genAI affords facile production of aesthetic visuals for biological and medical content, the architecture of these tools fundamentally limits the accuracy and trustworthiness of the depicted information, from imaginary (or fanciful) molecules to alien anatomy. Through 17 interviews with a diverse group of practitioners and researchers, we qualitatively analyze the concerns and values driving genAI (dis)use for the visual representation of spatially-oriented biomedical data. We find that BioMedVis experts, both in roles as developers and designers, use genAI tools at different stages of their daily workflows and hold attitudes ranging from enthusiastic adopters to skeptical avoiders of genAI. In contrasting the current use and perspectives on genAI observed in our study with predictions towards genAI in the visualization pipeline from prior work, our refocus the discussion of genAI's effects on projects in visualization in the here and now with its respective opportunities and pitfalls for future visualization research. At a time when public trust in science is in jeopardy, we are reminded to first do no harm, not just in biomedical visualization but in science communication more broadly. Our observations reaffirm the necessity of human intervention for empathetic design and assessment of accurate scientific visuals.},
pdf = {pdfs/ziman2025genaixbiomedvis.pdf},
images = {images/ziman2025itlookssexy.png},
thumbnails = {images/ziman2025itlookssexy_thumb.png},
project = {VIDI},
git = {https://osf.io/mbw86/}
}
@article{zhang2025deconstruct,
title = {Deconstructing Implicit Beliefs in Visual Data Journalism: Unstable Meanings Behind Data as Truth & Design for Insight},
author = {Zhang, Ke Er Amy and Jenkinson, Jodie and Garrison, Laura},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics--in press},
year = {2025},
numpages = {11},
eprint = {2507.12377},
archiveprefix = {arXiv},
primaryclass = {cs.HC},
abstract = {We conduct a deconstructive reading of a qualitative interview study with 17 visual data journalists from newsrooms across the globe. We borrow a deconstruction approach from literary critique to explore the instability of meaning in language and reveal implicit beliefs in words and ideas. Through our analysis we surface two sets of opposing implicit beliefs in visual data journalism: objectivity/subjectivity and humanism/mechanism. We contextualize these beliefs through a genealogical analysis, which brings deconstruction theory into practice by providing a historic backdrop for these opposing perspectives. Our analysis shows that these beliefs held within visual data journalism are not self-enclosed but rather a product of external societal forces and paradigm shifts over time. Through this work, we demonstrate how thinking with critical theories such as deconstruction and genealogy can reframe "success" in visual data storytelling and diversify visualization research outcomes. These efforts push the ways in which we as researchers produce domain knowledge to examine the sociotechnical issues of today's values towards datafication and data visualization. All supplemental materials for this work are available at osf.io/5fr48.},
doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2507.12377},
pdf = {pdfs/zhang2025deconstruct.pdf},
images = {images/zhang2025deconstruct.png},
thumbnails = {images/zhang2025deconstruct_thumb.png},
project = {VIDI},
git = {https://osf.io/5fr48/}
}
[Bibtex] @inproceedings{alhazwani2025datahum,
author = {Al-Hazwani, Ibrahim and Zhang, Ke Er Amy and Garrison, Laura and Bernard, J{\"u}rgen},
title = {Data Humanism decoded: A characterization of its principles to bridge data visualization researchers and practitioners},
booktitle = {Proceedings of IEEE VIS 2025 (Short Papers)--in press"},
year = {2025},
numpages = {5},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Society},
address = {Los Alamitos},
abstract = {Data Humanism is a human-centered design approach that emphasizes the personal, contextual, and imperfect nature of data. Despite its growing influence among practitioners, the 13 principles outlined in Giorgia Lupi’s visual manifesto remain loosely defined in research contexts, creating a gap between design practice and systematic application. Through a mixed-methods approach, including a systematic literature review, multimedia analysis, and expert interviews, we present a characterization of Data Humanism principles for visualization researchers. Our characterization provides concrete definitions that maintain interpretive flexibility in operationalizing design choices. We validate our work through direct consultation with Lupi. Moreover, we leverage the characterization to decode a visualization work, mapping Data Humanism principles to specific visual design choices. Our work creates a common language for human-centered visualization, bridging the gap between practice and research for future applications and evaluations.},
pdf = {pdfs/alhazwani2025datahum.pdf},
images = {images/alhazwani2025datahum.png},
thumbnails = {images/alhazwani2025datahum_thumb.png},
}![[YT]](https://vis.uib.no/wp-content/papercite-data/images/youtube.png)
![[VID]](https://vis.uib.no/wp-content/papercite-data/images/video.png)