Date of Award
8-20-2024
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Visualizations have long been used to support decision-making across various fields. By transforming complex data into graphical representations, such as charts, graphs, and maps, visualizations are generally reputed to make information more accessible and comprehensible for all. While prior work demonstrates that visualizations can improve speed and accuracy across comprehension and analytical tasks, there lacks research on how they can benefit decision-making. Decision-making is a complex task which involves risk comprehension and rational thinking but also various heuristics and external factors. While research has shown that individual traits and situational factors can impact performance with visualizations, they have not been explored in the context of decision-making. By focusing on three essential stages of the decision-making pipeline with visualization—perception, reasoning, and decision—I explore 1) how visualizations impact decision-making, and 2) how individual differences and situational factors mediate decision-making with visualizations. This thesis builds on the connection between perception, reasoning and decision to advance the understanding of how visualization can play a role in decision-making processes. By considering individual and situational factors such as working memory capacity and time pressure in visualization evaluation, this thesis expands beyond conventional evaluation metrics and challenges the one-size-fits-all approach. The research presented deepens our understanding of how people from diverse backgrounds and with different cognitive traits make decisions using charts and text. We provide evidence-based recommendations aimed at designing systems that are more accessible and effective for diverse users, leading to the development of better user-centric visual tools.
Language
English (en)
Chair
William Yeoh
Committee Members
Alvitta Ottley