Harry Potter and the Meat-Filled Freezer: A Case Study of Spontaneous Usage of Visualization Tools

This paper is a report on early user activity in Many Eyes, a public web site where users may upload data, create visualizations, and carry on discussions. Since the site launched, users have uploaded data and created graphics on everything from DNA microarray data to co-occurrences of names in the New Testament to personal gift-giving networks. Our results show that in addition to traditional data analysis, Many Eyes is used for goals ranging from journalism and advocacy to personal expression and social interaction. We propose several implications of this usage for visualization designers and contend that these findings suggest a role for visualization as an expressive medium.