DOI: 10.5176/978-981-08-6308-1_65
Authors: Peter O’Donnell, Majid Pourdadash
Abstract:
The reports and screens of a typical business intelligence application use a variety of impressive looking gauges, charts and graphics to display data, often stylized with 3-dimensional effects. The literature on information visualization suggests that the use of this type of graphic visualization leads to poor decision-making performance. One simple concept that can be used to improve the design of graphic data is the data-ink ratio. Visualizations with a low data-ink ratio contain unnecessary decoration, sometimes called chartjunk, which must be processed before the actual data can be understood. Chartjunk is minimized in visualizations that have a high data-ink ratio [21]. In order to achieve a high data-ink ratio a graphic will be drawn without redundant or unnecessary visual elements making the data displayed easier to understand. This paper reports the results of an experiment that compares the use of high and low data-ink ratio charts for a series of data analysis tasks. The results support the proposition that data analysis is improved if high data-ink ratio charts are used. The paper concludes by arguing that the use of highly decorated and stylized forms of data display in business intelligence systems is harming rather than supporting the decision making of end users.
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