The document discusses a research project on how data visualization enhances human decision-making by allowing individuals to better absorb and understand data, ultimately identifying patterns and trends. It outlines a three-stage cognitive processing model that includes visceral, behavioral, and reflective responses to visual stimuli, and emphasizes the importance of effective design principles. The conclusion highlights that data visualization aids in reducing cognitive load and enabling quicker, more informed decisions by representing key data points in an accessible format.

1. Martina Ojonah
Tewodros Wudematas
Cassie Randolph
Data Visualization Research Project
Group-7

2. How does visuals enhance human
decisions?

3. Title slide
1. Abstract
2. Problem Statement and Research Question
3. Main report
4. Conclusion
5. References

4. 1. Abstract
• Using visualization enable humans absorb and
understand the data better. This enables them
identify new patterns and trends that were
otherwise impossible to see using tabular data.
• This research project intends to investigate this
topic by analyzing a variety of peer-reviewed
academic/research articles and utilizing available
datasets that contain metrics surrounding human
visual stimuli.

5. 2. Problem Statement and Research
Question
To understand the importance of visuals in
the decision-making process in
corporations/organizations, this
research will answer the question "How
does visuals enhance human decisions? "

6. 3.Main Report
Ways you can use your data visualizations to
influence decisions:
Influence where viewers look
Design to capture attention
Encourage the eye to compare data
Change default settings as needed
Use visual contrast effectively
Highlight the data that matters to draw
audience attention

7. Table 1. General big data challenges.

8. Table 2. Big data life-cycle challenges.

9. Three-stage Process
There are affective and cognitive responses
to visual stimuli which are governed by a
three-stage process in the brain:
Visceral
Behavioral
Reflective

10. Picture-1 Three-stage process

11. Three- Stage Process Levels
• Visceral (“gut”) processing level: Visceral
processing level reacts quickly to appearances.
Researchers measure the visceral reaction when
detecting reaction times to web pages. Visceral-
level affective responses are largely unconscious.
• Behavioral-level processing level: Involves
more aspects of usability e.g., UI, UX,
functionality, structure, etc. Users are
consciously aware of their attitudes at this stage.

12. Three- Stage Process Levels
• Reflective: Reflective processing is the
most complex level and usually involves a
user’s personal perspective on beauty,
meaning, cultural context, and immediate
usefulness. It often triggers memories and
pragmatic judgments about overall
aesthetic worth and value.

13. Principles of Effective Design

14. • Aesthetic knowledge is used by project
decision makers to establish and
communicate for both themselves and
others the meaning of objects, social
relationships, and abstract concepts in
decision making contexts in which the
meaning of these phenomena cannot
be established effectively through other
means.

15. Classical Aesthetics
Classical aesthetics emphasizes orderliness and
clarity in design; using familiar web and print
conventions. Research shows classical aesthetics
correlate with perceived usability. This model is
most successful when users expect large amounts
of information to be presented in a well-
organized way typically with a clear visual
hierarchy and conventional headers, subheads,
captions, and navigation bars.

16. Expressive Aesthetics
Expressive aesthetics emphasizes the
originality, creativity, and visual richness of
the site design. Successful expressive design
generates immediate, positive visceral
reactions in most users. Understanding the
audience is particularly crucial in expressive
design.

17. Bistable Perceptual Task

18. “The part of the brain responsible for seeing
is more powerful than previously believed. In
fact, the visual cortex can essentially make
decisions just like the brain’s traditional
‘higher level’ areas, finds a new study led by
a Michigan State University neuroscientist.”

19. Cynefine Framework
Jeanne Moore author of “Data Visualization in
Support of Executive Decision Making” describes the
Cynefin framework which identifies five domains;
each representing a situation an organization may be
faced with. The five domains are complex, chaotic,
complicated, simple, and disordered. The center
domain represents disorder which is the unknown.
Per the Cynefin framework, executive strategic
decisions usually fall within the complex domain.
This is due to lack of clear cause and effect of the
decision.

20. Cynefine Framework
Moore states that the link between data and
strategic decision-making based on the
characteristics of the complex domain is apparent.
Jeanne Moore states that data visualization is a
methodically developed graphic which represents
data in a manner that allows one to obtain insights,
develop understanding, identify patterns, trends,
or anomalies faster, and promote engaging
discussions.

21. Jeanne Moore also states that Data visualization
has been widely used as a tool for aiding
understanding of complex phenomena by using
technology to integrate graphic creation with
image understanding and enabling more efficient
communication.

22. Cynefine Framework for Decision-Making

23. Example Experiment
Things that catch our attention most are
those that have features that are
significantly different from their background.
In the images on the next slide, it easy to
identify the ripened tomato in picture 1 from
among the rest compared to picture 2 where
the sameness of the tomatoes make it
difficult to filter anything out.

24. Example Experiment

25. Problems with Data Visualization
Visualization development faces
challenges such as:
 Adequate viewer interaction/UX
 Ability to connect between data and
human intuition

26. 4. Conclusion
• Data visualization allows people in different
capacities of decision making to mutually identify
the most likely routes for success, and to pinpoint
the most efficient means for taking ideas forward.
• Data visualization is help to make the right decision
because the human brain is not well equipped to
devour so much raw, unorganized information and
turn it into something usable and understandable.

27. • Data visualization helps executives see the big
picture all at once from trends and numbers to
hot spots and trouble areas.
• We need graphs and charts to communicate
data findings so that we can identify patterns
and trends to gain insight and make better
decisions faster.

28. • Data visualization technology provides a high-tech
means for preparing the necessary information that
enables sound business choices.
• Data visualization aids in decision making
because it reduces the cognitive load
associated with analyzing complex data. Our
lives are made easier when the data is
abstracted into a form that we can reason with
more intuitively.
• The brain comprehends visual representation
better than anything else. Data visualizations
helps you understand your data better and
leads to actionable insights that power
strategies.

29. • Data Visualization is the art of representing
key data points in simple-to-understand
format. Ease of data discovery and insights
are key when it comes to visualization.
• Better the visualization, easier it will be for
decision makers and stakeholders to arrive at
business-critical insights that can power their
strategic decisions.
• Data visualization makes data discovery
easier. It effectively bridges the gap between
data and the insights you derive from it.

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