A Need-Finding Study with Users of Geospatial Data

Geospatial data is playing an increasingly critical role in the work of Earth and climate scientists, social scientists, and data journalists exploring spatiotemporal change in our environment and societies. However, existing software and programming tools for geospatial analysis and visualization are challenging to learn and difficult to use. The aim of this work is to identify the unmet computing needs of the diverse and expanding community of geospatial data users. We conducted a contextual inquiry study (n = 25) with domain experts using geospatial data in their current work. Through a thematic analysis, we found that participants struggled to (1) find and transform geospatial data to satisfy spatiotemporal constraints, (2) understand the behavior of geospatial operators, (3) track geospatial data provenance, and (4) explore the cartographic design space. These findings suggest design opportunities for developers and designers of geospatial analysis and visualization systems.