From Information to Choice: A Critical Inquiry Into Visualization Tools for Decision Making
Emre Oral, Ria Chawla, Michel Wijkstra, Narges Mahyar, Evanthia, Dimara

TL;DR
This paper critically examines visualization tools across all decision-making stages, revealing a scarcity of comprehensive tools that support design and choice, and highlighting opportunities for enhancing flexibility and automation in decision support systems.
Contribution
The study provides a systematic review of decision-focused visualization tools, assessing their support for design and choice stages, and identifies gaps and opportunities for future development.
Findings
Most tools support intelligence stage well.
Limited support for decision flexibility and preferences.
Scarcity of tools supporting all decision stages.
Abstract
In the face of complex decisions, people often engage in a three-stage process that spans from (1) exploring and analyzing pertinent information (intelligence); (2) generating and exploring alternative options (design); and ultimately culminating in (3) selecting the optimal decision by evaluating discerning criteria (choice). We can fairly assume that all good visualizations aid in the intelligence stage by enabling data exploration and analysis. Yet, to what degree and how do visualization systems currently support the other decision making stages, namely design and choice? To explore this question, we conducted a comprehensive review of decision-focused visualization tools by examining publications in major visualization journals and conferences, including VIS, EuroVis, and CHI, spanning all available years. We employed a deductive coding method and in-depth analysis to assess if and…
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Taxonomy
TopicsComplex Systems and Decision Making · Big Data and Business Intelligence
