Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Latent Scope: Finding structure in unstructured data
Gold
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 • Designing with AI 2025

This video is featured in the AI and UX playlist and 1 more.

Share the love for this talk
Latent Scope: Finding structure in unstructured data
Speakers: Ian Johnson
Link:

Summary

As a data visualization designer and developer the challenge I often face is what to do with unstructured data. One case study I can show is exploring survey results where the multiple-choice questions are straightforward to analyze but interesting open-ended questions like “What do your colleagues not understand about data visualization?” are much harder to crack. Latent Scope is an open-source tool I built that streamlines a process of embedding text, mapping it to 2D, clustering the data points on the map and summarizing those clusters with an LLM. Once the process is done on a dataset structure emerges from the unstructured text, allowing us to get a sense of patterns in the survey answers. Themes like “the time it takes” to develop data visualization pop out, as do “the importance of good design.” While people don’t use the same language to describe these themes, they show up as clusters in the tool thanks to the power of embedding models. https://github.com/enjalot/latent-scope

Key Insights

  • AI embeddings transform unstructured data like text or sketches into high-dimensional vectors capturing hidden semantic patterns.

  • Dimensionality reduction algorithms map these high-dimensional embeddings into 2D clusters, making patterns visually accessible.

  • Free text survey responses, often too large to analyze manually, can be organized and explored effectively through embedding and clustering.

  • Google Cloud user journey data revealed surprising usage patterns, like enterprise and beginner tools being combined unexpectedly.

  • Simple rule-based filters for harmful prompts in generative AI image models can be bypassed by subtle prompt variations; embedding-based classifiers are more effective.

  • Latent Scope is an open source tool enabling non-technical users to embed, cluster, label, and visualize unstructured text data locally.

  • Local runs of embedding and clustering models on modest hardware are practical, preserving data privacy and sensitive user information.

  • Embedding models trained on multilingual data can cluster semantically similar texts across diverse languages in one shared space.

  • Breaking long text into smaller chunks can make embeddings more manageable and improve similarity comparisons.

  • Hands-on exploration of embedding models via platforms like Hugging Face helps users internalize concepts of semantic similarity and pattern discovery.

Notable Quotes

"People just don't get that the design and the process is fundamental."

"Similar inputs will produce similar high dimensional numbers."

"Dimensionality reduction algorithms take data points in high dimensional space and put them close together in 2D if they're similar."

"We found patterns that product teams didn’t expect or even want to look for."

"Simple word-list based filters can easily be tricked by misspellings or slight variations in prompts."

"What if you didn’t know there were important questions you should be asking in your data?"

"Latent Scope lets you quickly explore hundreds or thousands of free text responses to find clusters and patterns."

"You don’t need special hardware; these open source models can run locally on an M1 MacBook or a gaming machine."

"Multilingual embedding models can cluster similar meanings across languages in a shared latent space."

"Downloading and playing with local open source models gives a different experience than using faceless APIs mediated through interfaces."

Ask the Rosenbot
Ariel Kennan
Theme Two Intro
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Kara Kane
Theme One Intro
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Charles Lee
Building a New Home for the Atlassian Design System
2020 • Enterprise Community
Andy Warr
Under My (Research) Umbrella: The Benefits and Challenges of Building a Unified Insights Function
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Catt Small
Moving from Execution to Strategy as a Designer
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Changying (Z) Zheng
Navigating Innovation with Integrity
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Jemma Ahmed
Theme Panel
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Frances Yllana
The Big Question about Impact: A Panel Discussion
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Noah Bond
Redefining truth and inclusivity: Navigating data ownership and ethical research in the age of disinformation
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Rusha Sopariwala
Remote, Together: Craft and Collaboration Across Disciplines, Borders, Time Zones, and a Design Org of 170+
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Alla Weinberg
Cross-Functional Relationship Design
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Uday Gajendar
10 Years of Enterprise UX: Reflecting on the community and the practice
2025 • Enterprise Community
Holly Cole
Understanding Experiences: When you have to do more than work
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Benjamin Real
Showing the Value of DesignOps by Not Having a DesignOps Team
2020 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Sam Proulx
To Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Melissa Tsang
From Insights to Action: Driving Business Values through DesignOps
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold

More Videos

Gabrielle Verderber

"Avoid walls of text and create visual hierarchy to ensure scanability by using headers, sections, lists, and images."

Gabrielle Verderber

Documentation Your Team Will Actually Use

October 3, 2023

Jennifer Kanyamibwa

"Having each other's backs is like literal video game hero style slaying constraints."

Jennifer Kanyamibwa

Creating the Blueprint: Growing and Building Design Teams

November 8, 2018

Saara Kamppari-Miller

"If you only measure vanity metrics like downloads, you risk tracking numbers that don’t translate to real usage or value."

Saara Kamppari-Miller Nicole Bergstrom Shashi Jain

Key Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”

November 13, 2024

Samuel Proulx

"Testing with a screen reader is fine for QA, but user research must be with actual screen reader users."

Samuel Proulx

Designing beyond caricatures: Embracing real, diverse user needs

December 4, 2024

Catherine Dubut

"Physical prototyping is a tool to explore interaction modalities and physically connected environments beyond all things digital."

Catherine Dubut

Bridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design

March 18, 2021

Sam Ladner

"Zuboff called it informating technology—technology that serves users by providing insight, not just automating tasks."

Sam Ladner

Data Exhaust and Personal Data: Learning from Consumer Products to Enhance Enterprise UX

June 8, 2016

Sam Proulx

"Fixing problems found for one disability group often helps fix problems for others too."

Sam Proulx

Prototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You

December 8, 2021

Jemma Ahmed

"The moat that once protected researchers—their exclusive data access—is disappearing; now our value is enabling others to use insight."

Jemma Ahmed Megan Blocker Eduardo Ortiz

Redefining the research toolkit: Expanding methodologies for a changing world

March 12, 2025

Kevin Bethune

"No matter the spaces that we navigate, who’s at the table absolutely matters."

Kevin Bethune

Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation

June 8, 2022