Temporal Search and Replace : A novel tool to simplify event sequences in large complex temporal datasets

Visualizing and understanding large complex temporal datasets can be difficult and confusing because of the structure of events and event sequences. We introduce a novel Temporal Search and Replace tool that lets users easily and intuitively group and simplify related events sequences or repeated event patterns. The features in the tool were evaluated with a usability study of nine participants. Overall, the tool was very helpful at reducing visual clutter and in improving the participants’ understanding of the data. Challenges and recommendations for improving the tool are also discussed.