Validate layout findings with domain experts

Verify whether the performance, exploration strategies, and layout preferences observed for nonexpert participants apply to professional analysts and domain experts conducting egocentric network analysis.

Background

The user study involved participants who were not domain experts, even though the tasks were designed to reflect common egocentric-network analysis activities. Domain expertise may influence which visual cues analysts prioritize, how they explore networks, and how they interpret network structure.

The authors therefore leave unresolved whether the reported findings generalize to professional analytical contexts and explicitly call for verification with experts.

References

Analysts' exploration strategies and workflows are strongly shaped by domain-specific goals and expectations about network structure; experts may thus prioritize different cues or navigate differently, affecting both performance and layout preferences. The applicability of our findings to professional contexts remains to be verified with experts.

— Surrounded by Friends: Design and Evaluation of Immersive Layouts of Egocentric Network for Visual Analytics  (2608.27194 - Takahira et al., 27 Aug 2026) in Section 8, Limitations, subsection “Participant Expertise”