Data visualization and domain knowledge: Insights through focus groups of researchers in Spain

Nowadays, data visualizations are an intrinsic element of decision-making processes. But they can also lead us to wrong conclusions under different circumstances: lack of data visualization expertise, lack of domain knowledge, biases, polarization, backgrounds, etc. In this sense, it is important to consider potential drawbacks during the design and development processes of these tools and address them before delivering the final product to the user. Following this idea, this work describes the results obtained from the analysis of two focus groups (with different backgrounds and expertise) about data visualizations to validate a previously developed dashboard meta-model and analyze the differences between the two groups regarding the interpretation and thoughts on these tools. The results show differences between the discourses of the two groups, and the analysis of the interventions proves that the meta-model is robust and captures the most relevant elements of data visualizations and information dashboards.