Duet: Helping Data Analysis Novices Conduct Pairwise Comparisons by Minimal Specification

Data analysis novices often encounter barriers in executing low-level operations for pairwise comparisons. They may also run into barriers in interpreting the artifacts (e.g., visualizations) created as a result of the operations. We developed Duet, a visual analysis system designed to help data analysis novices conduct pairwise comparisons by addressing execution and interpretation barriers. To reduce the barriers in executing low-level operations during pairwise comparison, Duet employs minimal specification: when one object group (i.e. a group of records in a data table) is specified, Duet recommends object groups that are similar to or different from the specified one; when two object groups are specified, Duet recommends similar and different attributes between them. To lower the barriers in interpreting its recommendations, Duet explains the recommended groups and attributes using both visualizations and textual descriptions. We conducted a qualitative evaluation with eight participants to understand the effectiveness of Duet. The results suggest that minimal specification is easy to use and Duet's explanations are helpful for interpreting the recommendations despite some usability issues.