Task-specific visualization design: A case study in operational weather forecasting

Abstract

Efforts to create highly generic visualizations, both content and interface, often fail when applied to non-research-oriented or operational activities composed of several goals. Although these goals may appear to be related, they are often composed of distinct tasks. Generic solutions, even if domain-specific, may lack sufficient focus to be effective for such purposes. The design of different visualization tools matched to a set of tasks but built on top of a common framework with a similar approach to content is a promising alternative. This hypothesis is tested in detail by application to a demanding problem - operational weather forecasting.