Emergency management information systems: Could decision makers be supported in choosing display formats?

Recent information technologies make it possible to include sophisticated three-dimensional display formats in emergency management information systems (EMIS), decision-support systems that facilitate decision making in crisis situations. However, if decision makers are to improve their decisional performance, they must correctly identify appropriate situations for using these formats. We conduct two experiments and find that, as prior research has suggested, decision makers do not choose the most appropriate display format, but their performance improves when given prospective decisional guidance. We discuss implications of these findings for EMIS design, for the training of emergency management professionals, and for future research on display formats and decisional guidance.

[1]  Bijan Fazlollahi,et al.  The Effectiveness of Decisional Guidance: An Empirical Evaluation , 2001, Decis. Sci..

[2]  David Mendonça,et al.  Decision support for improvisation in response to extreme events: Learning from the response to the 2001 World Trade Center attack , 2007, Decis. Support Syst..

[3]  Jane M. Carey,et al.  Human factors in management information systems , 1988 .

[4]  Carolyn Snyder,et al.  Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces , 2003 .

[5]  S. Hart,et al.  Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of Empirical and Theoretical Research , 1988 .

[6]  J. G. Hollands,et al.  Engineering Psychology and Human Performance , 1984 .

[7]  Bryan Hosack,et al.  The effect of system feedback and decision context on value-based decision-making behavior , 2007, Decis. Support Syst..

[8]  Iris Vessey,et al.  Cognitive Fit: A Theory‐Based Analysis of the Graphs Versus Tables Literature* , 1991 .

[9]  Dennis F. Galletta,et al.  Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems – Foundations , 2006 .

[10]  Richard B. Dull,et al.  A Comparison of Three Visual Representations of Complex Multidimensional Accounting Information , 1999, J. Inf. Syst..

[11]  Joanna McGrenere,et al.  A comparison of static, adaptive, and adaptable menus , 2004, CHI.

[12]  Radhika Santhanam,et al.  The use of a knowledge-based system in conceptual data modeling , 2005, Decis. Support Syst..

[13]  Kent Marett,et al.  The Role of Decision Support in Alleviating the Familiarity Bias , 2006, Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'06).

[14]  Asli Yagmur Akbulut,et al.  Advice Availability and Gender Differences in Risky Decision Making: A Study of Online Retirement Planning , 2007, 2007 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'07).

[15]  C. Wickens,et al.  Applied Attention Theory , 2007 .

[16]  Ilze Zigurs,et al.  Decisional guidance and end-user display choices , 1999 .

[17]  Siska Fitrianie,et al.  A Visual Communication Language for Crisis Management , 2007 .

[18]  P. Fayers,et al.  The Visual Display of Quantitative Information , 1990 .

[19]  Radhika Santhanam,et al.  Could the use of a knowledge-based system lead to implicit learning? , 2007, Decis. Support Syst..

[20]  Donald R. Jones,et al.  Understanding and attenuating decision bias in the use of model advice and other relevant information , 2006, Decis. Support Syst..

[21]  Léon J. M. Rothkrantz,et al.  Constructing Knowledge of the World in Crisis Situations using Visual Language , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics.

[22]  Bartel Van de Walle,et al.  Decision support for emergency situations , 2008, Inf. Syst. E Bus. Manag..

[23]  Joanne E. Hale,et al.  A Layered Communication Architecture for the Support of Crisis Response , 1997, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[24]  G. Keppel,et al.  Design and Analysis: A Researcher's Handbook , 1976 .

[25]  Murray Turoff,et al.  Human-computer interaction , 2007, Commun. ACM.

[26]  William N. Dilla,et al.  Using Information Display Characteristics to Provide Decision Guidance in a Choice Task under Conditions of Strict Uncertainty , 2005, J. Inf. Syst..

[27]  Christopher D. Wickens,et al.  The Proximity Compatibility Principle: Its Psychological Foundation and Relevance to Display Design , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[28]  Harvey S. Smallman,et al.  Information Availability in 2D and 3D Displays , 2001, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[29]  Feng Wang,et al.  On the effectiveness of decisional guidance , 1996, Decis. Support Syst..

[30]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  An empirical investigation of intelligent agents for e-business customer relationship management: a knowledge management perspective , 2003, ECIS.

[31]  Harvey S. Smallman,et al.  The Use of 2D and 3D Displays for Shape-Understanding versus Relative-Position Tasks , 2001, Hum. Factors.

[32]  C. Melody Carswell,et al.  Geospatial Perspective-Taking: How Well Do Decision Makers Choose Their Views? , 2007 .

[33]  Gary Klein,et al.  Side effects of decision guidance in decision support systems , 2000, Interact. Comput..

[34]  Melanie Tory,et al.  Combining 2D and 3D views for visualization of spatial data , 2004 .

[35]  Bob Fields,et al.  Developing visualisations to support spatial-temporal reasoning in ATC. , 2006 .

[36]  Melanie Tory,et al.  Combining 2D and 3D views for orientation and relative position tasks , 2004, CHI.

[37]  Harvey S. Smallman,et al.  Naive Realism: Misplaced Faith in Realistic Displays , 2005 .

[38]  Mei-Po Kwan,et al.  Emergency response after 9/11: the potential of real-time 3D GIS for quick emergency response in micro-spatial environments , 2005, Comput. Environ. Urban Syst..

[39]  Mark S. Silver,et al.  Decisional Guidance for Computer-Based Decision Support , 1991, MIS Q..

[40]  Wilfred J. Hansen.  User engineering principles for interactive systems , 1972, AFIPS '71 (Fall).

[41]  P. Hancock,et al.  Human Mental Workload , 1988 .

[42]  Janet A. Sniezek,et al.  Training for Crisis Decision-Making: Psychological Issues and Computer-Based Solutions , 2002, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[43]  Peter Stecher,et al.  Incorporating cognitive aids into decision support systems: the case of the strategy execution process , 1986 .

[44]  Tracy Hall,et al.  De-motivators for software process improvement: an analysis of practitioners' views , 2003, J. Syst. Softw..

[45]  Lois S. Mahoney,et al.  An investigation of the effects of decisional guidance and cognitive ability on decision-making involving uncertainty data , 2003, Inf. Organ..

[46]  L. Murphy Smith,et al.  Applying software engineering principles to the user application interface , 1988 .