Catherine Plaisant

Senior Research Scientist Emerita
2117C Hornbake Library
(301) 405-2768
Education: 
Doctorat d'Ingenieur degree in France
Biography: 

Catherine Plaisant is a senior research scientist emerita for UMIACS and the former associate director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL).

Her research focuses on the design and evaluation of novel user interfaces.

She first worked in France at the "Centre Mondial Informatique et Ressources Humaines" in Paris, developing learning environments for pre-school children and conducting evaluation in classrooms. In 1988, she joined Distinguished University Professor of computer science Ben Shneiderman at HCIL, where she now works with multidisciplinary teams on designing and evaluating new interface technologies that are useable and useful. Research contributions range from focused user interaction techniques (e.g. Excentric Labeling) to innovative visualizations (such as LifeLines for personal records or SpaceTree for hierarchical data exploration) and interactive search interface techniques, such as Query Previews. Those interaction techniques have been carefully validated with user studies and are finding applications in industry, government information systems and digital libraries.

Plaisant has more than 200 published papers, mostly in leading journals and conferences, on diverse subjects such as information visualization, digital libraries, universal access, image browsing, digital humanities, technology for families, or evaluation methodologies.

Along with Shneiderman, she co-authored the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of "Designing the User Interface", one of the major books on the topic of human-computer interaction.

In 2015 she was elected to the ACM SIGCHI Academy recognizing principal leaders in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. In 2018 she was awarded an INRIA International Chair, and in 2020 she received the IEEE VIS Career Award and the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Service Award.

She received a Doctorat d'Ingenieur degree in France in 1982.

Go here to view Plaisant's academic publications on Google Scholar.

Publications

2012


Tao C, Wongsuphasawat K, Clark K, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B, Chute CG.  2012.  Towards event sequence representation, reasoning and visualization for EHR data. Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGHIT International Health Informatics Symposium.
:801-806.

2011


Ahn JW, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2011.  A task taxonomy of network evolution analysis. University of Maryland, Human-Computer Interaction Lab Tech Report HCIL-2011-09.

Ahn J-wook, Taieb-Maimon M, Sopan A, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2011.  Temporal Visualization of Social Network Dynamics: Prototypes for Nation of Neighbors. Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and PredictionSocial Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction. 6589:309-316.

Kerren A, Plaisant C, Stasko JT.  2011.  Information Visualization: State of the Field and New Research Directions. Information VisualizationInformation Visualization. 10(4):269-270.

Gomez JAG, Buck-Coleman A, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2011.  TreeVersity: Comparing tree structures by topology and node's attributes differences. 2011 IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST).
:275-276.

Kandel S, Heer J, Plaisant C, Kennedy J, Van Ham F, Riche N H, Weaver C, Lee B, Brodbeck D, Buono P.  2011.  Research Directions in Data Wrangling: Visualizations and Transformations for Usable and Credible Data. Information VisualizationInformation Visualization. 10(4):271-288.

Gomez JAG, Buck-Coleman A, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2011.  TreeVersity: Comparing tree structures by topology and node's attributes differences. Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2011 IEEE Conference on.
:275-276.

Drizd T, Eaton C, Plaisant C.  2011.  Visualizing Missing Data: Graph Interpretation User Study. IFIP Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). 3585(3585):861-872.

Wongsuphasawat K, Guerra Gómez J A, Plaisant C, Wang T D, Taieb-Maimon M, Shneiderman B.  2011.  LifeFlow: visualizing an overview of event sequences. Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:1747-1756.

Markowitz E, Bernstam EV, Herskovic J, Zhang J, Shneiderman B, Plaisant C, Johnson TR.  2011.  Medication Reconciliation: Work Domain Ontology, Prototype Development, and a Predictive Model. AMIA Annual Symposium ProceedingsAMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2011:878-887.

Wongsuphasawat K, Guerra Gómez J A, Plaisant C, Wang T, Taieb-Maimon M, Shneiderman B.  2011.  LifeFlow: visualizing an overview of event sequences (video preview). Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems.
:507-510.

Lam H, Bertini E, Isenberg P, Plaisant C, Carpendale S.  2011.  Empirical Studies in Information Visualization: Seven Scenarios. Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on. PP(99):1-1.

Lam H, Bertini E, Isenberg P, Plaisant C, Carpendale S.  2011.  Seven guiding scenarios for information visualization evaluation. 2011-992-04

Hurter C, Girouard A, Riche N, Plaisant C.  2011.  Active progress bars: facilitating the switch to temporary activities. Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems.
:1963-1968.

Hettinger AZ, Rackoff A, Wongsuphasawat K, Cheng H, Fairbanks RJ, Plaisant C, Smith MS.  2011.  Improved Identification and Visualization of Emergency Department Patient Visits. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 58(4):S309-S309.

Guerra Gómez J, Wongsuphasawat K, Wang TD, Pack M, Plaisant C.  2011.  Analyzing Incident Management Event Sequences with Interactive Visualization. Transportation Research Board 90th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers.

2010


Grinstein G, Konecni S, Scholtz J, Whiting M, Plaisant C.  2010.  VAST 2010 Challenge: Arms dealings and pandemics. Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2010 IEEE Symposium on.
:263-264.

Delogu F, Palmiero M, Federici S, Plaisant C, Zhao H, Belardinelli O.  2010.  Non-visual exploration of geographic maps: Does sonification help? Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. 5(3):164-174.

Kang H, Plaisant C, Elsayed T, Oard D.  2010.  Making sense of archived e‐mail: Exploring the Enron collection with NetLens. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 61(4):723-744.

Wang T D, Wongsuphasawat K, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2010.  Visual information seeking in multiple electronic health records: design recommendations and a process model. Proceedings of the 1st ACM International Health Informatics Symposium.
:46-55.

Reiterer H, Kerren A, Plaisant C, Stasko JT.  2010.  New forms of Human-Computer Interaction for Visualizing Information. Information Visualization.

Freire M, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B, Golbeck J.  2010.  ManyNets: an interface for multiple network analysis and visualization. Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:213-222.

2009


Wang TD, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B, Spring N, Roseman D, Marchand G, Mukherjee V, Smith M.  2009.  Temporal Summaries: Supporting Temporal Categorical Searching, Aggregation and Comparison. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. 15(6):1049-1056.

Wang TD, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B, Spring N, Roseman D, Marchand G, Mukherjee V, Smith M.  2009.  Temporal Summaries: Supporting Temporal Categorical Searching, Aggregation and Comparison. Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on. 15(6):1049-1056.

Vuillemot R, Clement T, Plaisant C, Kumar A.  2009.  What's being said near "Martha"? Exploring name entities in literary text collections Visual Analytics Science and Technology, 2009. VAST 2009. IEEE Symposium on.
:107-114.

Grinstein G, Scholtz J, Whiting M, Plaisant C.  2009.  VAST 2009 challenge: An insider threat. Visual Analytics Science and Technology, 2009. VAST 2009. IEEE Symposium on.
:243-244.

Costello L, Grinstein G, Plaisant C, Scholtz J.  2009.  Advancing User-Centered Evaluation of Visual Analytic Environments Through Contests. Information VisualizationInformation Visualization. 8(3):230-238.

Plaisant C, Grinstein G, Scholtz J.  2009.  Visual-Analytics Evaluation. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE. 29(3):16-17.

2008


Bederson BB, Clamage A, Plaisant C.  2008.  Enhancing In-Car Navigation Systems with Personal Experience. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2064(-1):33-42.

Grinstein G, Plaisant C, Laskowski S, O'Connell T, Scholtz J, Whiting M.  2008.  VAST 2008 Challenge: Introducing mini-challenges. Visual Analytics Science and Technology, 2008. VAST '08. IEEE Symposium on.
:195-196.

Zhao H, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B, Lazar J.  2008.  Data Sonification for Users with Visual Impairment: A Case Study with Georeferenced Data. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.. 15(1):4:1–4:28-4:1–4:28.

Plaisant C, Grinstein G, Scholtz J, Whiting M, O'Connell T, Laskowski S, Chien L, Tat A, Wright W, Gorg C et al..  2008.  Evaluating Visual Analytics at the 2007 VAST Symposium Contest. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE. 28(2):12-21.

Plaisant C, Fekete J-D, Grinstein G.  2008.  Promoting Insight-Based Evaluation of Visualizations: From Contest to Benchmark Repository. Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on. 14(1):120-134.

Wang T D, Plaisant C, Quinn AJ, Stanchak R, Murphy S, Shneiderman B.  2008.  Aligning temporal data by sentinel events: discovering patterns in electronic health records. Proceedings of the twenty-sixth annual SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
:457-466.

Plaisant C, Lam S, Shneiderman B, Smith MS, Roseman D, Marchand G, Gillam M, Feied C, Handler J, Rappaport H.  2008.  Searching Electronic Health Records for Temporal Patterns in Patient Histories: A Case Study with Microsoft Amalga. AMIA Annual Symposium ProceedingsAMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008:601-605.

Plaisant C.  2008.  A range of indicators for the evaluation of state health department Web-based data query systems. Issues in Evaluating Health Department Web-based Data Query Systems: Working Papers.
:39-39.

Chen C-houh, Härdle W, Unwin A, Jank W, Shmueli G, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2008.  Visualizing Functional Data with an Application to eBay’s Online Auctions. Handbook of Data VisualizationHandbook of Data Visualization.
:873-898.

Bertini E, Perer A, Plaisant C, Santucci G.  2008.  BELIV'08: Beyond time and errors: novel evaluation methods for information visualization. CHI '08 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems.
:3913-3916.

2007


Don A, Zheleva E, Gregory M, Tarkan S, Auvil L, Clement T, Shneiderman B, Plaisant C.  2007.  Discovering interesting usage patterns in text collections: integrating text mining with visualization. Proceedings of the sixteenth ACM conference on Conference on information and knowledge management.
:213-222.

Buono P, Plaisant C, Simeone A, Aris A, Shneiderman B, Shmueli G, Jank W.  2007.  Similarity-Based Forecasting with Simultaneous Previews: A River Plot Interface for Time Series Forecasting. Information Visualization, 2007. IV '07. 11th International Conference.
:191-196.

Grinstein G, Plaisant C, Laskowski S, O'Connell T, Scholtz J, Whiting M.  2007.  VAST 2007 Contest - Blue Iguanodon. Visual Analytics Science and Technology, 2007. VAST 2007. IEEE Symposium on.
:231-232.

Kang H, Plaisant C, Lee B, Bederson BB.  2007.  NetLens: Iterative Exploration of Content-Actor Network Data. Information VisualizationInformation Visualization. 6(1):18-31.

2006


Shmueli G, Jank W, Aris A, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2006.  Exploring auction databases through interactive visualization. Decision Support Systems. 42(3):1521-1538.

Lee B, Parr CS, Plaisant C, Bederson BB, Veksler VD, Gray WD, Kotfila C.  2006.  TreePlus: Interactive Exploration of Networks with Enhanced Tree Layouts. Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on. 12(6):1414-1426.

Grinstein G, O'Connell T, Laskowski S, Plaisant C, Scholtz J, Whiting M.  2006.  VAST 2006 Contest - A Tale of Alderwood. Visual Analytics Science And Technology, 2006 IEEE Symposium On.
:215-216.

Plaisant C, Clamage A, Hutchinson H B, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2006.  Shared family calendars: Promoting symmetry and accessibility. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.. 13(3):313-346.

Lee B, Kang H, Plaisant C, Bederson BB.  2006.  Exploring content-actor paired network data using iterative query refinement with NetLens. Digital Libraries, 2006. JCDL '06. Proceedings of the 6th ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on.
:372-372.

Shneiderman B, Plaisant C.  2006.  Strategies for evaluating information visualization tools: multi-dimensional in-depth long-term case studies. Proceedings of the 2006 AVI workshop on BEyond time and errors: novel evaluation methods for information visualization.
:1-7.

Plaisant C, Rose J, Yu B, Auvil L, Kirschenbaum MG, Smith M N, Clement T, Lord G.  2006.  Exploring erotics in Emily Dickinson's correspondence with text mining and visual interfaces. Proceedings of the 6th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries.
:141-150.

Lee B, Plaisant C, Parr C S, Fekete J-D, Henry N.  2006.  Task taxonomy for graph visualization. Proceedings of the 2006 AVI workshop on BEyond time and errors: novel evaluation methods for information visualization.
:1-5.

Lee B, Parr C, Plaisant C, Bederson BB.  2006.  Visualizing Graphs as Trees: Plant a Seed and Watch it Grow. Graph DrawingGraph Drawing. 3843:516-518.

2005


Zhao H, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2005.  iSonic: interactive sonification for non-visual data exploration. Proceedings of the 7th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility.
:194-195.

Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2005.  Show Me! Guidelines for producing recorded demonstrations. 2005 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing.
:171-178.

Zhao H, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B.  2005.  "I hear the pattern": interactive sonification of geographical data patterns. CHI '05 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems.
:1905-1908.

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