Survey on Individual Differences in Visualization

TL;DR

This survey reviews research on individual differences in data visualization, emphasizing the importance of personalized interfaces and summarizing existing studies on traits, cognition, and tasks to guide future research.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive summary of literature on individual differences in visualization, highlighting gaps and directions for future personalized visualization research.

Findings

Recognition of individual differences importance

Summary of traits and cognitive factors studied

Identification of research gaps and future directions

Abstract

Developments in data visualization research have enabled visualization systems to achieve great general usability and application across a variety of domains. These advancements have improved not only people's understanding of data, but also the general understanding of people themselves, and how they interact with visualization systems. In particular, researchers have gradually come to recognize the deficiency of having one-size-fits-all visualization interfaces, as well as the significance of individual differences in the use of data visualization systems. Unfortunately, the absence of comprehensive surveys of the existing literature impedes the development of this research. In this paper, we review the research perspectives, as well as the personality traits and cognitive abilities, visualizations, tasks, and measures investigated in the existing literature. We aim to provide a detailed summary of existing scholarship, produce evidence-based reviews, and spur future inquiry.