Dupo: A Mixed-Initiative Authoring Tool for Responsive Visualization

TL;DR

Dupo is a mixed-initiative tool that combines manual design agency with automated suggestions to streamline creating responsive visualizations across devices, enhancing customization and prototyping efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a novel two-step recommender system for responsive visualization design, enabling users to explore and modify automated suggestions effectively.

Findings

Participants created more satisfactory designs using Dupo.

Dupo reduced manual effort in responsive visualization creation.

Design suggestions helped avoid premature fixation on initial ideas.

Abstract

Designing responsive visualizations for various screen types can be tedious as authors must manage multiple chart~versions across design iterations. Automated approaches for responsive visualization must take into account the user's need for agency in exploring possible design ideas and applying customizations based on their own goals. We design and implement Dupo, a mixed-initiative approach to creating responsive visualizations that combines the agency afforded by a manual interface with automation provided by a recommender system. Given an initial design, users can browse automated design suggestions for a different screen type and make edits to a chosen design, thereby supporting quick prototyping and customizability. Dupo employs a two-step recommender pipeline that first suggests significant design changes (Exploration) followed by more subtle changes (Alteration). We evaluated Dupo with six expert responsive visualization authors. While creating responsive versions of a source design in Dupo, participants could reason about different design suggestions without having to manually prototype them, and thus avoid prematurely fixating on a particular design. This process led participants to create designs that they were satisfied with but which they had previously overlooked.