HypoML: Visual Analysis for Hypothesis-based Evaluation of Machine Learning Models

Abstract: In this paper, we present a visual analytics tool for enabling hypothesis-based evaluation of ML models. We describe a novel ML-testing framework that combines the traditional statistical hypothesis testing (commonly used in empirical research) with logical reasoning about the conclusions of multiple hypotheses. The framework defines a controlled configuration for testing a number of hypotheses as to whether and how some extra information about a "concept" or "feature" may benefit or hinder a ML model. Because reasoning multiple hypotheses is not always straightforward, we provide HypoML as a visual analysis tool, with which, the multi-thread testing data is transformed to a visual representation for rapid observation of the conclusions and the logical flow between the testing data and hypotheses.We have applied HypoML to a number of hypothesized concepts, demonstrating the intuitive and explainable nature of the visual analysis.