Highlighting the Importance of Intentional Aspects in Data Narrative Crafting Processes

Data narration is the activity of crafting narratives supported by facts extracted from data exploration and analysis, using interactive visualizations. While data narration has recently attracted much attention, the process of crafting data narratives is loosely documented and has not yet been formally described. In this article, we propose a comprehensive and well-founded process to fill this need. It aims at (i) supporting the complete cycle of data narration, from the exploration of data to the visual rendering of the narrative, (ii) being flexible enough to cover a wide range of crafting practices, and (iii) being well founded upon a conceptual model of the domain. In addition, we investigate several crafting scenarios that represent typical situations and detail the workflow of one particular phase, which reflects the intentional aspects.

Automated summary

Data narration is the process of crafting narratives using facts extracted from data exploration and analysis, presented through interactive visualizations. This article introduces a comprehensive and well-founded process that supports the entire cycle of data narration, from exploring the data to visualizing the narrative. It also covers a wide range of crafting practices and is based on a conceptual model of the domain.