  In this paper we introduce paraglide, a visualization system designed for
interactive exploration of parameter spaces of multi-variate simulation models.
To get the right parameter configuration, model developers frequently have to
go back and forth between setting parameters and qualitatively judging the
outcomes of their model. During this process, they build up a grounded
understanding of the parameter effects in order to pick the right setting.
Current state-of-the-art tools and practices, however, fail to provide a
systematic way of exploring these parameter spaces, making informed decisions
about parameter settings a tedious and workload-intensive task. Paraglide
endeavors to overcome this shortcoming by assisting the sampling of the
parameter space and the discovery of qualitatively different model outcomes.
This results in a decomposition of the model parameter space into regions of
distinct behaviour. We developed paraglide in close collaboration with experts
from three different domains, who all were involved in developing new models
for their domain. We first analyzed current practices of six domain experts and
derived a set of design requirements, then engaged in a longitudinal
user-centered design process, and finally conducted three in-depth case studies
underlining the usefulness of our approach.
