How Information Visualization Affects Human Problem-Solving Performance in a Complex Business Domain: A Comparative Study

Information visualization is a process of transforming large quantities of data and information, which are not inherently spatial, into forms that allow users to visually perceive the information instead of having to use their cognitive powers to figure them out otherwise. One such information visualization system, VIZ_planner, was developed for assisting manufacturing production planners to develop superior planning solutions. It was based on human problem-solving process model, follows the typical stages of human decision-making processes, and presents relevant data in multi-dimensional visual representations. This paper reports the results of a lab experiment that studied the effectiveness of this information visualization system on human problem-solving performance and satisfaction. The results show that planners using the information visualization system (1) generated more alternatives for solutions, (2) achieved high efficiency of changes in raw data in order to develop better solutions, (3) were more satisfied with the outcomes than the planners using a traditional planning system were.