English

Abstract

Several information visualization toolkits and tools have been developed to facilitate users work. However, evaluation studies for these toolkits and tools from a user perspective have been overlooked. In this paper, we evaluate 13 information visualization toolkits and tools developed in the last 10 years from a user perspective. For each user type (novice, savvy and expert), we investigated the toolkits and tools using 5 dimensions. This study shows that tools for savvy users—users with basic programming skills and domain knowledge— are lacking, and these users should be supported with more tools to construct advanced visualizations. We outline our approach to how savvy users can be engaged more in the development process and construct advanced visualizations. Information visualization community should focus more on moving the boundary of constructing advanced visualizations from expert users towards savvy users.