Empirical evaluation of information graphics?

Dear All,

Will Stahl-Timmins asked on the PhD in Design 
list the following question. I have mentioned the 
DD4D conference in Paris, and some other 
references. Can anyone help?

Kind regards,
Karel.
[email protected]


>>>

I am currently doing a doctorate research project 
which aims to show how information graphics can 
be used to support health technology assessment 
which is a key area of policy making in 
healthcare.

In health technology assessment (HTA), the 
scientific research community provides evidence 
based syntheses to support high level decisions 
about priorities in health spending. In the UK, 
for instance, HTA is fundamental to the decision 
making processes at the National Instititute of 
Health and Clinical Excellence and its importance 
is growing both in the UK and internationally. In 
this context, there is commonly a need to present 
complex multi-dimensional data to decision makers 
of differing professional backgrounds. The 
opportunities and role of the designer in 
producing information graphics to support the 
presentation of such information in HTA is only 
just beginning to be understood.

One challenge in my research is to show an 
empirical effect in terms of understanding or 
information absorption between a purely numerical 
(tabulated) and a graphical presentation of 
research data.

My first question is therefore:

Is anyone aware of a bibliography or reference 
source for empirical studies that 
demonstrate/evaluate the benefits of information 
graphics in decision support?

Some of the literature I¹ve found so far suggests 
that the more complex the  information, the 
greater the advantage of using information 
graphics (given the fact that there is a learning 
curve for unfamiliar presentations of 
information). I can design an experiment that 
gradually increases the complexity of a decision, 
based on more and more information, but I need to 
know how to assess how well people are absorbing 
information, so that I can compare different 
presentation methods.

I¹ve so far found three common ways of measuring 
effectiveness, used in such comparative 
evaluative studies in management science:

1) Present some data in two or more forms, and 
ask a series of questions which require the 
participant to obtain information from the  data, 
counting the number (and/or speed) of correct 
responses.

2) Ask participants to predict the next value in 
a (real) sequential data set, and measure their 
responses against the actual values.

3) Ask participants which presentation method 
they preferred using a qualitative technique, 
such as a questionnaire or interview delivered 
after the event.

My second question is:

Does anyone know any other obvious (or even less 
than obvious...) ways of measuring the 
effectiveness of information graphics that I may 
have missed?


...............................................

Will Stahl-Timmins B.A., M.A.
PhD Researcher: Information Graphics in Health Technology Assessment.

T: +44 (0) 1392 406 967
M: +44 (0) 7941 865 196
E: [email protected]

www.pms.ac.uk/infographics/
www.pms.ac.uk/pentag/
www.willstahl.com


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