mage: Fluid Moves Between Code and Graphical Work in Computational Notebooks

TL;DR

This paper introduces mage, an API that enables computational notebooks to seamlessly switch between code and graphical interfaces, enhancing tool flexibility for data workers.

Contribution

Mage extends notebooks with a dual-representation API, allowing tools to adapt between code and GUI, supported by a user study and multiple prototype tools.

Findings

Practitioners value flexible code/GUI tools for data work.

Six prototype tools demonstrate mage’s capabilities.

Open challenges remain in flexible data tool interactions.

Abstract

We aim to increase the flexibility at which a data worker can choose the right tool for the job, regardless of whether the tool is a code library or an interactive graphical user interface (GUI). To achieve this flexibility, we extend computational notebooks with a new API mage, which supports tools that can represent themselves as both code and GUI as needed. We discuss the design of mage as well as design opportunities in the space of flexible code/GUI tools for data work. To understand tooling needs, we conduct a study with nine professional practitioners and elicit their feedback on mage and potential areas for flexible code/GUI tooling. We then implement six client tools for mage that illustrate the main themes of our study findings. Finally, we discuss open challenges in providing flexible code/GUI interactions for data workers.