Discovering and configuring representations of data via an insight taxonomy

• US 9,024,952 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2010
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Mital, Vijay, Rubin, Darryl Ellis, Poozhiyil, Suraj T., Green, David G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hau
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gray, Ryan M
• Application Number:
  US12/972,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20120154402A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

An insight that a user desires to obtain from graphically presenting and manipulating a data set may be identified. A graphical object may be selected for representation and analysis of the data set based on whether the graphical object is capable of revealing the desired insight. The selection may be made based visual characteristic(s) of the graphical object and parameters, such as a type, of data in the data set. Different graphical objects may be selected to gain different insights about the data set. For example, a bar chart may be selected to gain an insight such as a trend in the data. The selected graphical object may be provided as a suggestion on a user interface for potentially using the graphical object to represent the data. A graphical object may include visually interactive components for use within a graphical user interface. The interactive components may be used to receive user input indicating a change in representation of the data set so that appearance of visual characteristics of the graphical object is modified to reflect the change.

Claims

1. A method of operating a computing device to create a representation of a data set, the method comprising:

with at least one processor;

identifying, based on a computer-based inference derived by analyzing values of data in a data set being visualized, an insight that a user desires to gain from graphically presenting at least one portion of the data set, the insight being identified without explicit interaction by the user;

selecting, at least one graphical object adapted to receive user input indicating a change in the values of the data in the at least one portion of the data set so that on effecting the change, the selected at least one graphical object reveals the insight using at least the changed values of the data in the data set, wherein the selection is performed based on a type of the data set and at least one visual characteristic of the at least one graphical object; and

presenting to the user a suggestion for incorporating the selected at least one graphical object in a user interface configured for interaction of the user with at least the changed values of the data in the data set.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the insight comprises receiving user input indicative of the insight.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the insight comprises identifying a plurality of insights from at least other users who have previously desired to gain from the data set and then selecting the insight from the plurality of the insights based on the user input.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of the data set comprises at least one of continuous or discrete data.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the at least one graphical object is associated with metadata comprising information on at least one insight that can be revealed from representing data using the at least one graphical object; and

selecting the at least one graphical object comprises matching the at least one insight that can be revealed from representing data using the at least one graphical object with the identified insight that the user desires to gain from graphically presenting the at least one portion of the data set.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the method further comprises selecting the at least one graphical object from a library comprising graphical objects, wherein each graphical object is stored in the library in association with information on an insight revealed by displaying data using the at least one graphical object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one graphical object comprises determining whether the at least one graphical object is capable of receiving user input representing the change in the at least one portion of the data set.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein selecting the at least one graphical object further comprises matching at least one parameter of the at least one portion of the data set with the at least one visual characteristic of the at least one graphical object.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to user input selecting the at least one graphical object, presenting the at least portion of the data set on the user interface through the at least one graphical object.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input is provided by interacting with one or more displayed graphical components.

11. A computer system, comprising:

a storage device comprising a library of graphical objects, wherein each graphical object in the library is associated with an insight revealed from displaying data using the graphical object;

a data set of a type; and

at least one processor configured to;

identify a desired insight to be revealed from graphically presenting at least one portion of the data set, wherein a type of the identified desired insight is selected from one of multiple levels of a hierarchy of insights in an insight taxonomy, the insight being identified by presenting a portion of the insights from the multiple levels based on the data set, the hierarchy of the multiple levels being organized based on types of the insights, wherein at least two or more types of the insights have different levels of the hierarchy in the insight taxonomy;

identify in the library, based on the type of the data set and the type of the identified insight, at least one graphical object capable of representing the at least one portion of the data set so that the user gains the insight, the at least one graphical object being identified based on a comparison of the type of the identified insight and types of insights graphical objects in the library are capable of revealing, wherein the at least one graphical object is adapted to receive user input indicating a change in the at least one portion of data in the data set so that effecting the change reveals the desired insight based on at least the changed data, the at least one graphical object being identified from the graphical objects classified in the multiple levels of the hierarchy in the same way as the insights are classified in the insight taxonomy;

generate an output suggesting use of the identified at least one graphical object; and

in response to user input requesting use of the identified at least one graphical object, represent the data set using the graphical object via a graphical user interface.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the insight comprises at least one of a trend in the data set, identification of a correlation between a first subset of the data set with a second subset of the data set, determination of a similarity between a third subset of the data set and a fourth subset of the data set or determination of a difference between a fifth subset of the data set and a sixth subset of the data set.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the at least one portion of the data set comprises at least one dimension of variability of data in the data set.

14. The computer system of claim 11, wherein identifying the insight comprises identifying the insight based on a combination of an input from a user and an inference by a computer-based tool.

15. The computer system of claim 11, wherein identifying the insight comprises identifying the insight from at least one prior interaction with the data set via the graphical user interface.

16. The computer system of claim 11, wherein:

the graphical object comprises at least one visual characteristic representing the at least one portion of the data set, and

representing the data set using the graphical object comprises representing the at least one portion of the data set through the at least one visual characteristic so that the user gains the insight.

17. A method of interacting with a data set, the method comprising:

through at least one processor;

identifying an insight that a user desires to gain from graphically presenting at least one portion of the data set, the insight being identified, based on a computer-based inference derived using the data set, from one of multiple levels of a hierarchy of insights in an insight taxonomy;

selecting, based on the identified insight, a first graphical object corresponding to the one of multiple levels of the hierarchy, wherein the first graphical object reveals the insight;

selecting a plurality of graphical objects capable of changing appearance of the first graphical object, at least one graphical object in the plurality of graphical objects being capable of representing the at least one portion of the data set so that the plurality of graphical objects in combination aid in revealing the insight by the first graphical object, wherein the selection of the first graphical object is performed based on a type of the data set and at least one visual characteristic of the first graphical object, and the at least one graphic object is adapted to receive user input indicating a change in the at least one portion of the data set so that effecting the change reveals the identified insight by changing the at least one visual characteristic of the first graphical object;

presenting to the user a suggestion for incorporating the first graphical object and the plurality of graphical object in a user interface configured for interaction with the data set; and

in response to user input requesting use of the at least one graphical object, representing the at least one portion of the data so that the plurality of graphical objects in combination aid in revealing the insight by the first graphical object.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the at least one graphical object is selected from a library comprising graphical objects, wherein each graphical object is stored in the library in association with information on at least one insight that can be revealed by displaying data using the graphical object.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the graphical objects are stored in the library as organized in accordance with a taxonomy of the graphical objects.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the first graphical object comprises matching the at least one insight that can be revealed by displaying data using the graphical object with the identified insight that the user desires to gain from graphically presenting the at least one portion of the data set.