High Impact Research:
Blending Science, Engineering & Design
Ben Shneiderman
ben@cs.umd.edu
@benbendc
Founding Director (1983-2000), Human-Computer Interaction Lab
Professor, Department of Computer Science
Member, Institute for Advanced Computer Studies
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Interdisciplinary research community
- Computer Science & Info Studies
- Psych, Socio, Educ, Jour & MITH
www.cs.umd.edu/hcil
vimeo.com/72440805
Design Issues
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Input devices & strategies
• Keyboards, pointing devices, voice
• Direct manipulation
• Menus, forms, commands
Output devices & formats
• Screens, windows, color, sound
• Text, tables, graphics
• Instructions, messages, help
Collaboration & Social Media
Help, tutorials, training
• Visualization
Search
www.awl.com/DTUI
Fifth Edition: 2010
Spotfire: Retinol’s role in embryos & vision
Spotfire: DC natality data
Spotfire Treemap: Bond Portfolio Analysis
www.spotfire.com
Spotfire Networks: Supply Chain Analysis
www.spotfire.com
10M - 100M pixels: Large displays
16M pixels: My New Workstation
100M-pixels & more
1M-pixels & less
Small mobile devices
Information Visualization: Mantra
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Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
Overview, zoom & filter, details-on-demand
(The Eyes Have It, IEEE VL, 1996)
SciViz .
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1-D Linear
2-D Map
3-D World
Document Lens, SeeSoft, Info Mural
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Multi-Var
Temporal
Tree
Network
Text
Spotfire, Tableau, Qliktech, DataWatch
InfoViz
Information Visualization: Data Types
infosthetics.com
flowingdata.com
visual.ly
GIS, ArcView, PageMaker, Medical imagery
CAD, Medical, Molecules, Architecture
EventFlow, TimeSearcher, Palantir, DataMontage
Cone/Cam/Hyperbolic, SpaceTree, Treemap
Pajek, UCINet, NodeXL, Gephi, Tom Sawyer
TagClouds, Wordle, ManyEyes, Ngram Viewer
visualcomplexity.com
perceptualedge.com
Visualizing.org
eagereyes.org
datakind.org
infovis.org
High Impact Research:
Blending Science, Engineering & Design
Ben Shneiderman
ben@cs.umd.edu
@benbendc
Founding Director (1983-2000), Human-Computer Interaction Lab
Professor, Department of Computer Science
Member, Institute for Advanced Computer Studies
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
High Impact Research:
A Vision for UMIACS
Ben Shneiderman
Marshini Chetty
Mihai Pop
Rance Cleaveland
Tudor Dumitras
(Chair, CS/HCI),
(iSchool/HCI),
(CS/Computational Biology),
(CS/Software Engineering),
(ECE/Cybersecurity)
High Impact Research:
A Vision for UMIACS
Ben Shneiderman
Marshini Chetty
Mihai Pop
Rance Cleaveland
Tudor Dumitras
(Chair, CS/HCI),
(iSchool/HCI),
(CS/Computational Biology),
(CS/Software Engineering),
(ECE/Cybersecurity)
High Impact Research:
A Vision for UMIACS
Ben Shneiderman
Marshini Chetty
Mihai Pop
Rance Cleaveland
Tudor Dumitras
(Chair, CS/HCI),
(iSchool/HCI),
(CS/Computational Biology),
(CS/Software Engineering),
(ECE/Cybersecurity)
Jefferson’s Mission Statement (1804)
“object of your mission is to explore…the most direct & practicable water
communication across the continent, for the purpose of commerce.”
+ geography, geology, astronomy, biology, meteorology
+ Indian languages, laws, customs, religion, agriculture, hunting & fishing
Kennedy Moon Shot Speech (1961)
“The growth of our science & education will be enriched by new knowledge
of our universe & environment, by new techniques of learning & mapping,
… by new tools & computers for industry, medicine, home & school.”
UN Millennium Development Goals
To be achieved by 2015
• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development
Grand Challenges: NAE (2008)
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Make solar energy economical
Provide energy from fusion
Develop carbon sequestration methods
Manage the nitrogen cycle
Provide access to clean water
Restore and improve urban infrastructure
Advance health informatics
Engineer better medicines
Reverse-engineer the brain
Prevent nuclear terror
Secure cyberspace
Enhance virtual reality
Advance personalized learning
Engineer the tools of scientific discovery
www.engineeringchallenges.org/
Longitude Prize 2014: Crowdsourced
Ensure everyone can have access to safe & clean water?
Restore movement to those with paralysis?
Fly without damaging the environment?
Help people with dementia live independently for longer
Prevent the rise of resistance to antibiotics?
Ensure everyone has nutritious, sustainable food?
Longitude Prize 2014: Crowdsourced
Ensure everyone can have access to safe & clean water?
Restore movement to those with paralysis?
Fly without damaging the environment?
Help people with dementia live independently for longer
Prevent the rise of resistance to antibiotics?
Ensure everyone has nutritious, sustainable food?
Vannevar Bush: FDR’s Science Advisor
Science: The Endless Frontier (1945)
- Separates basic (or pure) from applied research
- Urges strong gov’t support for academic basic research:
“statistically it is certain that important and highly useful
discoveries will result from some fraction of the work
undertaken; but the results of any one particular
investigation cannot be predicted with accuracy.”
- Warns: “applied research invariably drives out pure”
Vannevar Bush: FDR’s Science Advisor
Science: The Endless Frontier (1945)
- Separates basic (or pure) from applied research
- Urges strong gov’t support for academic basic research:
“statistically it is certain that important and highly useful
discoveries will result from some fraction of the work
undertaken; but the results of any one particular
investigation cannot be predicted with accuracy.”
- Warns: “applied research invariably drives out pure”
But he was wrong.
These beliefs are just not true.
Linear Model
Basic
Research
Applied
Research
Development
Production
& operations
Linear Model
Basic
Research
Applied
Research
Development
Production
& operations
Rarely works:
Basic Researchers choose wrong problems 
Technology Transfer is a struggle
Reverse Linear Model
Basic
Research
Applied
Research
Development
Production
& operations
Successful pattern:
Listen to industry problems & solve them 
Technology Transfer is easier
High Impact Model: Raised Expectations
Basic
Research
Applied
Research
Development
Production & operations
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/toward-anecological-model-of-research-and-development/275187/
High Impact Model: Raised Expectations
Basic
Research
Applied
Research
Development
Production & operations
“use-inspired basic research”
“theory-inspired applied research”
High Impact Model: Raised Expectations
Basic
Research
Applied
Research
Development
Production & operations
“Theory without practice cannot survive and dies as quickly as it lives.”
“He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship
without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast.”
-- Leonardo Da Vinci
Research Project: 2 parents, 3 children
Basic
Theory
Applied
Problem
Research
Project
Refine
Theory
Solve
Problem
Provide Guidance to
Future Researchers
High Impact Research Strategies
Choose actionable problems:
civic, business & global priorities
High Impact Research Strategies
Blend science,
engineering & design
research methods
Choose actionable problems:
civic, business & global priorities
Science, Engineering, Design
High Impact Research Strategies
Blend science,
engineering & design
research methods
Form teams
with diverse individuals
& organizations
Choose actionable problems:
civic, business & global priorities
Teams: Winning Strategy
• Magic of Two (End of the Lone Genius)
• Teams: hugely effective, but difficult to run
• May take practice to gain skills
• Clear goals, clear roles
• Trust, communication, recognition
• Large teams need administrative support
scienceofteamscience.org
www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov
High Impact Research Strategies
Blend science,
engineering & design
research methods
Form teams
with diverse individuals
& organizations
Strive for universal
theories, principles
& guidelines
Choose actionable problems:
civic, business & global priorities
What kinds of theories are there?
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive
• Prescriptive
• Generative
What kinds of theories are there?
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive
• Prescriptive
• Generative
• Cognitive
• Perceptual
• Motor skills
• Small Group Teamwork
• Organizational/Leadership
• Social/Cultural
High Impact Research Strategies
Test prototypes with
realistic interventions
Blend science,
engineering & design
research methods
Use big data &
case study methods
Form teams
with diverse individuals
& organizations
Strive for universal
theories, principles
& guidelines
Choose actionable problems:
civic, business & global priorities
Prototype & test
• “Something Small Soon”
• Be agile, Gather data, Fail sooner
• Scale-up, scale-out
• Find partners with living laboratories
• Repeated case studies support theories
• Writing clarifies thinking
• Publishing gains feedback
High Impact Research Strategies
Promote adoption
& assess impact
Test prototypes with
realistic interventions
Blend science,
engineering & design
research methods
Use big data &
case study methods
Form teams
with diverse individuals
& organizations
Strive for universal
theories, principles
& guidelines
Choose actionable problems:
civic, business & global priorities
How to Promote Adoption
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Ideas travel through networks and relationships
Cultivate champions. Present, Present, Present!
Become a trustworthy source in your field
Address areas of policy interest
Join relevant committees
& insert your findings into decision making
Consider Action Research designs
Don’t wait for publication. Disseminate early
https://becker.wustl.edu/impact-assessment/strategies
Promote Adoption & Assess Impact
• Promote Adoption
• Send Five & Thrive
• Distribute copies of papers, create websites, make videos
• Travel to speak at conferences & to colleagues
• Write follow up papers, seek citations
• Assess Impact
• Measure downloads, tweets, blogposts, media mentions
• Win Best Paper Awards, collect testimonials
• Count citations
• Repeat for Research, Researchers & Organizations
Research on Science & Technology
• 1975: Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
• 1993: Int’l Society for Scientometrics & Informetrics
• 2007: Int’l Society for the Psychology of Science & Technology
• 2008: NSF Science of Science & Innovation Policy (SciSIP)
• 2010: Science of Team Science Conference (SciTS)
(www.scienceofteamscience.org)
Research on Science & Technology
• 1975: Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
• 1993: Int’l Society for Scientometrics & Informetrics
• 2007: Int’l Society for the Psychology of Science & Technology
• 2008: NSF Science of Science & Innovation Policy (SciSIP)
• 2010: Science of Team Science Conference (SciTS)
(www.scienceofteamscience.org)
• 2011: Altmetrics Conference (www.altmetrics.org)
• 2011: Beyond Impact Workshop (www.beyond-impact.org)
• 2011: Becker Assessment Model (becker.wustl.edu/impact-assessment/)
• 2012: SF-Declaration on Research Assessment (am.ascb.org/dora/)
www.cs.umd.edu/hcil
@benbendc
Quadrant Model of Research
Considerations of use?
No
Yes
Quest for
fundamental
understanding?
Yes
No
Basic
Research
(Bohr)
Use-inspired
Basic
Research
(Pasteur)
Applied
Research
(Edison)
Stokes, Pasteur’s Quadrant, 1997
Potential High-Impact Research Topics
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Desktop/Laptop software
World Wide Web & services
Mobile devices & services
Human-Computer Interaction
Information Visualization & Big Data
Creativity Support Tools
Technology-Mediated Social Participation
Medical informatics: Learning Health System
Environmental Protection
Energy Sustainability
Community Safety
Education