Accessing integrated models as a non-technical user

This page contains a brief outline of its final contents.

The IM Partnership aims to develop sophisticated tools that address complex, technical modeling challenges. Yet translating those models for non-technical users, and making them more accessible, is a key challenge for bridging the science and decision-making communities.

The integrated modelling web interface, which is under construction, is called k.Explorer – a full-featured, non-technical, drag-and-drop interface that implements the semantic modeling paradigm for users of all experience levels.

The k.Explorer interface hides most details of semantic modeling from its user: a model is run by simply choosing 1) the context of interest, interactively and 2) the desired observable from a simple, auto-completing search form. Results and provenance information are then supplied to the user.

The k.Explorer prototype supports user-editable, self-documenting “tool palettes” that offer specific types of models to specific classes of users (i.e., IM Partnership members desiring customized interfaces for specific modeling projects). Different palettes can be accessed by users, and they can easily be built and customized (also by users without knowledge of semantics), then localized to regions so that individual research or decision-making contexts can be easily supported.