Emily Wall, Ph.D.
My research involves decision making using data visualizations and visual analytics. I develop computational strategies to characterize human limitations in decision making (e.g., cognitive bias) and design interventions to promote reflective data analysis and decision making processes. I am an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at Emory University. I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science at Georgia Tech in 2020 and was a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University 2020-2021.
| emily.wall@emory.edu | @profembwall |
| Google Scholar | |
| Math & Science Center W302E | https://emilywall.prof |
| PDF of CV (last updated: 2024-04-04) |
Appointments
| 2021- | Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science (Affiliate) Center for Data Science Emory University |
| 2020-2021 | Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Computer Science Northwestern University |
Education
| 2020 | Ph.D. in Computer Science Georgia Institute of Technology Thesis: Detecting and Mitigating Human Bias in Visual Analytics Committee: Alex Endert, John Stasko, Polo Chau, Brian Fisher, Wenwen Dou |
| 2015 | B.S. in Computer Science & Mathematics University of Georgia summa cum laude |
Honors & Awards
| 2023 | Arts and Social Justice, Fellow |
| 2020 | VGTC Best Dissertation, Honorable Mention |
| 2019 | GVU Foley Scholar, Recipient, Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 2019 | D.E. Shaw Exploration Fellowship, Recipient |
| 2019-2020 | Siemens FutureMaker Fellowship, Recipient |
| 2018 | GVU Foley Scholar, Finalist, Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 2017 | Graduate Student Symposium, Participant, AT&T Labs |
| 2017 | Doctoral Colloquium, Participant, IEEE VIS |
| 2017-2020 | Graduate Fellowship for STEM Diversity (GFSD), Recipient |
| 2017 | NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Honorable Mention |
| 2017 | Department of Defense SMART Fellowship, Recipient (Declined) |
| 2015-2019 | President's Fellowship, Recipient, Georgia Institute of Technology |
Publications
Journal Articles
Belief Decay or Persistence? A Mixed-Method Study on Belief Movement Over Time
S. Gupta, A. Karduni, and E. Wall
Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. EuroVis'23), 2023.
PDF |
Talk |
Video FF
A Qualitative Interview Study of Distributed Tracing Visualisation: A Characterisation of Challenges and Opportunities
T. Davidson, E. Wall, and J. Mace
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. VIS'23), 2023.
PDF
(Best Paper, runner up) VisHiker’s Guide to Evaluation: Competing Considerations in Study Design
E. Wall, C. Xiong, and Y-S. Kim
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 2022.
PDF
VIBE: A Design Space for VIsual Belief Elicitation in Data Journalism
S. Mahajan, B. Chen, A. Karduni, Y-S. Kim, and E. Wall
Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. EuroVis'22), 2022.
PDF |
Slides
Left, Right, and Gender: Exploring Interaction Traces to Mitigate Human Biases
E. Wall, A. Narechania, A. Coscia, J. Paden, and A. Endert
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. VIS'21), 2021.
PDF |
Talk |
Video |
Video FF
Lumos: Increasing Awareness of Analytic Behavior during Visual Data Analysis
A. Narechania, A. Coscia, E. Wall, and A. Endert
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. VIS'21), 2021.
PDF |
System & Code |
Talk |
Video |
Video FF
VitaLITy: Promoting Serendipitous Discovery of Academic Literature with Transformers & Visual Analytics
A. Narechania, A. Karduni, R. Wesslen, and E. Wall
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. VIS'21), 2021.
PDF |
System & Code |
Talk |
Video |
Video FF
A Heuristic Approach to Value-Driven Evaluation of Visualizations
E. Wall, M. Agnihotri, L. Matzen, K. Divis, M. Haass, A. Endert, and J. Stasko
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. InfoVis'18), 2019.
PDF |
Talk |
Website |
Video FF
Podium: Ranking Data Using Mixed-Initiative Visual Analytics
E. Wall, S. Das, R. Chawla, B. Kalidindi, E. Brown, and A. Endert
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. VAST'17), 2018.
PDF |
Talk |
Video |
Video FF |
Demo
AxiSketcher: Interactive Nonlinear Axis Mapping of Visualizations through User Drawings
B.C. Kwon, H. Kim, E. Wall, J. Choo, H. Park, and A. Endert
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (Proc. VAST'16), 2017.
PDF |
Video
Conference Proceedings
Trust Junk and Evil Knobs: Calibrating Trust in AI Visualization
E. Wall, L. Matzen, M. El-Assady, P. Masters, H. Hosseinpour, A. Endert, R. Borgo, P. Chau, A. Perer, H. Schupp, H. Strobelt, and L. Padilla
IEEE Pacific Visualization Conference, 2024.
PDF
Let’s Get Vysical: Perceptual Accuracy in Visual & Tactile Encodings
Z. Xu, K. Williams, and E. Wall
IEEE Information Visualization (VIS) Short Papers, 2023.
PDF |
Supplemental |
Talk |
Video FF
Toward a Design Space for Mitigating Cognitive Bias in Vis
E. Wall, J. Stasko, and A. Endert
IEEE Information Visualization (VIS) Short Papers, 2019.
PDF |
Supplemental |
Talk |
Video FF
A Markov Model of Users’ Interactive Behavior in Scatterplots
E. Wall, A. Arcalgud, K. Gupta, and A. Jo
IEEE Information Visualization (VIS) Short Papers, 2019.
PDF |
Talk |
Video FF
A Formative Study of Interactive Bias Metrics in Visual Analytics Using Anchoring Bias
E. Wall, L. Blaha, C. Paul, and A. Endert
Proceedings of the 17th IFIP TC 13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT'19), 2019.
PDF |
Video
Using Expert Patterns in Assisted Interactive Machine Learning: A Study in Machine Teaching
E. Wall, S. Ghorashi, and G. Ramos
Proceedings of the 17th IFIP TC 13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT'19), 2019.
PDF |
Video
Warning, Bias May Occur: A Proposed Approach to Detecting Cognitive Bias in Interactive Visual Analytics
E. Wall, L. Blaha, L. Franklin, and A. Endert
IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2017.
PDF |
Talk |
Video |
Video FF
Supporting Team-First Visual Analytics through Group Activity Representations
S.K. Badam, Z. Zeng, E. Wall, A. Endert, and N. Elmqvist
Graphics Interface, 2017.
PDF |
Video
Refereed Workshop Papers
Visual Salience to Mitigate Gender Bias in Recommendation Letters
Y. Da, M. Chen, B. Altschuler, Y. Bu, and E. Wall
Workshop on Visualization for Social Good (VIS4Good, at VIS'23), 2023.
PDF |
Supplemental |
Talk
Perception of Skill in Visual Problem Solving: An Analysis of Interactive Behaviors, Personality Traits, and the Dunning-Kruger Effect
M. Chen and E. Wall
Workshop on TRust and EXpertise in Visual Analytics (TREX, at VIS'22), 2022.
PDF
COVID-19 Health Equity Dashboard - Addressing Vulnerable Populations
S. Liu, E. Wall, S. Patel, and Y. Park
Visualization for Communication (VisComm, at VIS'20), 2020.
PDF
Four Perspectives on Human Bias in Visual Analytics
E. Wall, L. Blaha, C. Paul, K. Cook, and A. Endert
DECISIVe: Workshop on Dealing with Cognitive Biases in Visualizations (at InfoVis'17), 2017.
PDF
Book Chapters
Four Perspectives on Human Bias in Visual Analytics
E. Wall, L. Blaha, C. Paul, K. Cook, and A. Endert
Cognitive Biases in Visualizations, Ed. G. Ellis, Springer, 2018, Chapter 3, pp. 29-42.
Book |
Chapter
Theses
Detecting and Mitigating Human Bias in Visual Analytics
Emily Wall
Georgia Tech, School of Interactive Computing Ph.D. Thesis. April 2020.
PDF
Grants & Funding
Research
| 2024-2029 | Promoting Metacognition in Visual Analytics NSF CAREER Award Role: PI Funded: $643,965 (Emory) |
| 2023-2027 | Advancing Visualization Decision Support through Mitigating Confirmation Bias NSF IIS-HCC Role: PI Co-PI: Dr. Cindy Xiong Funded: $683,097 (Emory) / $1,198,084 (total) |
| 2023-2026 | Toward Interventions For Equitable University Admissions With Visual Analytics Emory Office of Provost: Racial Justice/Racial Equity Role: PI Co-PI: Dr. Wesley Longhofer Funded: $148,850 |
| 2023-2024 | Developing Behavior Change Interventions for Responsible Data Science Emory University Research Committee Role: PI Funded: $30,000 |
| 2023-2024 | Developing an Immersive Cognitive Task for Expanding the Assessment of Memory in Pediatrics Pediatric Research Alliance Pilot Grant Role: Co-I Co-PIs: Dr. Daniel Drane, Dr. Ammar Kheder, Noah Okada, Dr. Joshua Chern, and Dr. Donald Bearden Funded: $50,000 |
| 2022-2023 | A Novel Web-based Decision Aid Tool for Reducing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy HealthCare Innovation Seed Grant Role: Co-I Co-PIs: Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha, Dr. Shivani Patel, Dr. Piyush Kumar Funded: $24,995 |
Other
| 2023 Spring | Scholarly Writing And Publishing (SWAP) Fund Award Emory University Funded: $2,250 Purpose: hire editor to assist with NSF CAREER proposal writing |
| 2023 Spring | Pedagogy Mini Grant Human-Computer Interaction (CS 485/584), Emory University Funded: $350 Purpose: purchase Google cardboard for a virtual reality design module |
| 2022 Fall | Pedagogy Mini Grant Information Visualization (CS 485/584), Emory University Funded: $350 Purpose: fund user study incentives for course projects that are pursuing publication |
Teaching
Instructor
| Spring 2024 | Human-Computer Interaction (CS 485 / 584) (29 students) Emory University |
| Fall 2023 | Information Visualization (CS 441 / 541) (36 students) Part of the Arts & Social Justice Program Emory University |
| Spring 2023 | Human-Computer Interaction (CS 485 / 584) (34 students) Emory University |
| Fall 2022 | Information Visualization (CS 485 / 584) (41 students) Emory University |
| Spring 2022 | Human-Computer Interaction (CS 485 / 584) (40 students) Emory University |
| Fall 2021 | Information Visualization (CS 485 / 584) (26 students) Emory University |
Guest Lecturer
| Mar 2024 | Information Visualization Environmental Health Seminar: Impact Evaluation of Global and Environmental Health Programs and Projects (EH 590R), Emory University |
| Oct 2023 | Visual Analytics Human-AI Interaction (CS 485/585), Emory University |
| Feb 2023 | Accessibility and Universal Design in HCI Affordable and Sustainable Healthcare Technologies (BMI 585), Emory University |
| Nov 2022 | Bias in Data-Driven Decision Making: Perception, Cognition, and Metacognition Introduction to Information Visualization (CS 4460), Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Oct 2021 | Visual Analytics Data Visualization (CompSci 765), University of Wisconsin |
| Feb 2019 | Introduction to Javascript Introduction to Information Visualization (CS 4460), Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Dec 2017 | Cognition in Visualization Information Visualization (CS 7450), Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Nov 2017 | Visual Analytics Information Visualization (CS 7450), Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Jun 2017 | Visualization Design: Do's and Don'ts Introduction to Information Visualization (CS 4460), Georgia Institute of Technology |
Presentations
Invited Talks
| Cognition & Visualization @ Emory: A Visualization Viewpoint on Mitigating Metacognitive Deficits > March 2024. Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute at University of Utah. > September 2022. Emory SON Center for Data Science. > September 2022. ATLAS Institute at University of Colorado - Boulder. |
| Good and Bad Biases in Innovation, Decision Making, and Beyond > November 2023. Emory Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture. |
| Bias in Visualization: Considering Equity through Research > November 2021. Object Perception, visual Attention, and visual Memory (OPAM) conference. Watch |
| As We Are: Detecting and Mitigating Human Bias in Visual Analytics > April 2021. University of Utah, Data Science Seminar. Virtual Seminar. > October 2020. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Virtual Brown Bag. > September 2020. Emory University. Atlanta, GA. Abstract > May 2020. CMU & AFRL, Center for Excellence on Human-Machine Teaming. Virtual Brown Bag. > May 2020. Siemens. Virtual Brown Bag. > March 2020. Cornell University, Info Science Colloquium. Ithaca, NY. Abstract > February 2020. University of Washington, Allen School Colloquium. Seattle, WA. Watch > February 2020. Emory University. Atlanta, GA. Abstract > February 2020. New York University. New York, NY. Abstract > February 2020. University of Wisconsin. Madison, WI. |
| Left, Right, and Gender: Mitigating Implicit Human Bias in Visual Analytics > January 2020. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Brown Bag. Atlanta, GA. Watch |
| The Interactive Analytics Library: Treating Interaction as Data > May 2017. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Richland, WA. |
Other Posters and Demonstrations
| Warning, Bias May Occur: Detecting and Mitigating Cognitive Bias in Visual Analytics (Poster & Demo) > October 2019. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. > June 2019. Summer Institute on Bounded Rationality. Berlin, Germany. > April 2019. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. |
| Warning, Bias May Occur: A Proposed Approach to Detecting Cognitive Bias in Interactive Visual Analytics (Demo) > April 2018. CRA-W Grad Cohort. San Francisco, CA. > April 2018. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. > April 2017. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. |
| Podium: Ranking Data Using Mixed-Initiative Visual Analytics (Poster & Demo) > April 2018. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. > April 2017. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. > April 2018. CRA-W Grad Cohort. San Diego, CA. > April 2016. Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Demo Showcase. Atlanta, GA. |
Students
Graduate Advisees
| 2019- | Yanan Da Ph.D. Computer Science and Informatics, Emory University |
| 2019- | Ziwei Dong Ph.D. Computer Science and Informatics, Emory University |
| 2019- | Shrey Gupta (co-advised w/ Avani Wildani) Ph.D. Computer Science and Informatics, Emory University |
| 2021- | Shiyao Li Ph.D. Computer Science and Informatics, Emory University |
| 2022- | Mengyu (Bonnie) Chen Ph.D. Computer Science and Informatics, Emory University |
| 2023- | Thomas Davidson Ph.D. Computer Science and Informatics, Emory University |
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Advisees
| 2024 | Tommy Skodje Thesis: An Eye-Tracking Toolkit for Evaluating Memory in Epilepsy Patients B.S. Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: M.S. student) |
Thesis Committee (Undergraduate)
| 2024 | Yijun Liu Thesis: CodeCuddle: Automating Inclusive Web Design with Large Language Model B.S. High Honors Computer Science, Emory University |
| 2024 | Cole Smith Thesis: Urinary RNA Biomarkers in Extracellular Vesicles from Post-DRE Urine to Predict Aggressive Prostate Cancer B.S. Highest Honors Chemistry, Minor Computer Science, Emory University |
| 2023 | Elijah Chou Thesis: Measuring creativity in computer programming: A code distance approach B.S. Highest Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: M.S. student, Emory) |
| 2023 | Chen Gong Thesis: Evaluating Speaker Diarization in Transcripts: A Text-based Approach with the TDER Metric and the TranscribeView System B.S. Highest Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: M.S. student) |
| 2023 | Alexandra Li Thesis: Signaface: Face Generation for SSL/TLS Certificate Change Detection B.S. Highest Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: Ph.D. student, CMU) |
| 2023 | Noah Okada Thesis: Development of Immersive Cognitive Tasks for Use in Human Memory Research B.S. Highest Honors Computer Science and Neuroscience, Emory University (after Emory: Ph.D. student, CalTech) |
| 2023 | Peyton Robertson Thesis: Vulnerability Detection: A Machine Learning Approach to Identifying Security Vulnerabilities In Code B.S. Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: Cybersecurity Engineer, Microsoft) |
| 2023 | Sierra Talbert Thesis: Human.exe: Generating Critical Theories of Humanity in Human-Computer Interaction B.S. Highest Honors Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Computer Science, Emory University |
| 2023 | Kevin Wu Thesis: CONSchema: Schema matching with semantics and constraints B.S. Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: Software Engineer, Capital One) |
| 2023 | Ruby Wu Thesis: ClusT: Interactive Visualization Tool for Deep Constrained Clustering on Tweets B.S. Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: M.S. student, CMU) |
| 2023 | Zach Zaiman Thesis: AudioStrike: Acoustic Identification of Keystrokes to Enhance End-to-End Session Integrity B.S. Highest Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: Software Engineer, Microsoft) |
| 2022 | Christina Chance Thesis: Accuracy of African American Vernacular English for Closed Captioning on Zoom B.S. Honors Computer Science, Emory University (after Emory: Ph.D. student, UCLA) |
Mentoring
| 2023- | Audrey Bu, B.S. Quantitative Sciences (Sociology Track) & Mathematics, Emory University, Class of 2025 Measuring gender and racial biases in university admissions |
| 2022-2023 | Yijun Liu, B.S. Quantitative Sciences, Emory University, Class of 2024 Detecting Dunning-Kruger Effect in data visualization |
| 2022-2023 | Zhongzheng Xu, B.S. Computer Science, Emory University, Class of 2023 (after Emory: M.S. student, Brown) Visual and tangible data accessibility |
| 2021-2023 | Randy Truong, B.S. Computer Science and Quantitative Sciences, Emory University, Class of 2023 (after Emory: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Eliciting affective response using visualization and sonification |
| 2021-2022 | Zhou (Serena) Fang, B.S. Quantitative Sciences, Emory University, Class of 2022 (after Emory: M.S. Biomedical Informatics, Harvard) Incorporating topic modeling in a visual analytic system for conducting literature reviews |
| 2021-2022 | Yiping (Jessie) Liang, B.S. Computer Science and Applied Math, Emory University, Class of 2022 Conducting user study and evaluation for assessing impact of data representation on confirmation bias |
| 2020-2021 | Star Liu, B.S. Quantitative Sciences, Emory University, Class of 2021 Developed system for visualizing health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic, first author of case study on COVID-19 Health Equity Dashboard after Emory: MS Health Sciences Informatics Student at Johns Hopkins |
Service
Professional Service
| 2021-2024 | Organizing Committee Doctoral Colloquium Chair, VIS 2024 Elections Chair, VIS 2021-2023 |
| > | Program Committee Member ACM FAccT, 2023 IEEE VIS, 2021-2023 BELIV Workshop on "Designing and Evaluating Visualizations for an Ethical, Inclusive, and Responsible Future", 2022 EuroVis, 2022, 2024 ACM CHI, 2022, 2024 Vis4Good Workshop at IEEE VIS, 2021 IEEE VIS Short Papers, 2020 VISxAI Workshop at IEEE VIS, 2019 CHI Late Breaking Work, 2018 |
| > | Organizer Visualization for Social Good Workshop at IEEE VIS 2023 Visualization for Social Good Workshop at IEEE VIS 2022 TRust and EXpertise in Visual Analytics (TREX) Workshop at IEEE VIS 2021 TRust and EXpertise in Visual Analytics (TREX) Workshop at IEEE VIS 2020 |
| > | Panelist Establishing and Thriving in an Academic Career @ IEEE VIS, 2023 What is a Visual Analytics contribution, and how is it changing? @ IEEE VIS, 2023 Women in Tech Panel, Emory Data Science Club and ProgramHers, 2023 Equity in Vision Science at Object Perception, visual Attention, and visual Memory (OPAM) conference, 2021 Advancing Visualization Inclusion and Diversity (AVID) Workshop at IEEE VIS, 2017 |
| > | Reviewer (Papers) Nature: 2023 IEEE VIS: 2017-2024 CHI: 2018-2024 Universal Access in the Information Society (UAIS): 2023 FAccT: 2023 TVCG: 2018-2023 EuroVis: 2020-2024 ACM TiiS: 2022 Cognitive Research: 2022 CG&A: 2021 CSCW: 2021 International Journal of Human-Computer Studies: 2019 KDD IDEA: 2017 VAST Challenge: 2016 |
| > | Reviewer (Funding) Austrian Science Fund (FWF): 2023 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: 2022 National Science Foundation: 2021 |
| > | Session Chair Questioning Data and Data Bias @ IEEE VIS 2022 Guidelines and Accessibility @ EuroVIS 2022 Interaction and Animation @ IEEE VIS 2020 |
| > | Other Committees VISxAI Best Paper Award Selection Committee: 2021 CHI Best Paper Award Selection Committee: 2022 |
Institutional Service
| 2020-2024 | Graduate Admissions Committee Computer Science Department, Emory University |
| 2023-2024 | Honors Program Selection Committee Computer Science Department, Emory University |
| 2020-2021 | Faculty Search Committee Computer Science Department, Emory University |
| > | Panelist DEI Statement Panel, Emory University, 2021 Innovations in Online Teaching Panel, Emory University, 2021 |
Selected Media
| Nov 2019 | A Reflection on VIS2019: Or, How Doomed Are We? Medium Blog Post, Multiple Views on Visualization Research Explained. Read by Michael Correll |
| Nov 2019 | Highlights from IEEE VIS 2019, Uncharted Software Blog. Read by Rosa Romero-Gómez |
| May 2019 | Battling Bias. Ep. 3, Tech Unbound Podcast. Listen with Josh Preston |
Other Professional Activities
| Sep 2023 | Human-Centered Approaches for Provenance in Automated Data Science Dagstuhl, Wadern, Germany |
| Aug 2022 | Interactive Visualization for Fostering Trust in ML Dagstuhl, Wadern, Germany |
| Aug 2022 | Emory CFDE Summer Teaching Intensive Emory University |
| Jun 2022 | Visualization Summer Camp Atlantic City, NJ |
| Fall 2021 | Emory CFDE Grantseekers' Institute Emory University |
| Oct 2021, June 2020 | Emory College Online Teaching Strategies (ECOTS) Emory University |
| Aug 2021 | Visualization Summer Camp Minneapolis, MN |
| Oct 2019 | NextProf Nexus Workshop Atlanta, GA |
| Jun 2019 | Summer Institute on Bounded Rationality Berlin, Germany |
| Apr 2018 | CRA-W Grad Cohort Workshop San Francisco, CA |
| Oct 2016 | Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Houston, TX |
| Apr 2016 | CRA-W Grad Cohort Workshop San Diego, CA |