The Risky Business of Visualizing Known Unknowns for Decision Making with Maps

Abstract

Spatial data visualized in geographic information displays (GIDs) are always subject to a multitude of inherent uncertainties. It is still an open research question, however, whether and how decision-makers need to be informed about potential data uncertainties, as misleading, or at worst, life-threatening outcomes might result from map-based decisions. As GIDs are becoming ubiquitous in the information society, as a way of communicating complex phenomena and processes to scientific experts and the general public alike, it raises the need and responsibility for scientists to visualize uncertainty. I will report on past and ongoing empirical geovisualization research with colleagues that investigates how data uncertainty visualized on maps might influence the process and outcomes of spatial decision-making, especially when made under time pressure, and in risky situations. Based on our collected empirical evidence to date, we argue that spatial data uncertainties should be communicated to space-time decision-makers, especially when decisions need to be made with limited time resources and when decision outcomes can have dramatic consequences.