Decoding a Complex Visualization in a Science Museum -- An Empirical Study

TL;DR

This empirical study investigates how museum visitors interpret complex visualizations, revealing decoding times, common issues, and the impact of visual encodings to inform better visualization design for science museums.

Contribution

It provides detailed empirical insights into visitors' decoding processes and identifies design factors affecting understanding of complex visualizations in informal learning settings.

Findings

Average decoding time was 43 seconds

Visitors took 54 seconds to reach correct interpretation

Multiple visual encodings both aided and hindered decoding

Abstract

This study describes a detailed analysis of museum visitors' decoding process as they used a visualization designed to support exploration of a large, complex dataset. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that it took, on average, 43 seconds for visitors to decode enough of the visualization to see patterns and relationships in the underlying data represented, and 54 seconds to arrive at their first correct data interpretation. Furthermore, visitors decoded throughout and not only upon initial use of the visualization. The study analyzed think-aloud data to identify issues visitors had mapping the visual representations to their intended referents, examine why they occurred, and consider if and how these decoding issues were resolved. The paper also describes how multiple visual encodings both helped and hindered decoding and concludes with implications on the design and adaptation of visualizations for informal science learning venues.