A preliminary classification of different tasks that make use of uncertainty visualizations

Abstract

Individuals often struggle with tasks that involve uncertainty. Uncertainty visualizations are a type of cognitive aid that provides uncertainty information to help people with performing these tasks. However, the literature has shown that uncertainty visualizations differ in the extent they improve individuals’ task performance. We hypothesize that differences in the tasks can account for some of this variability. In this study, we aimed to create an initial classification of task types based on studies on uncertainty visualizations by reviewing a diverse set of recent research involving uncertainty visualizations. We classified the experimental tasks found in these papers into four groups: uncertainty assessment, forecasting, decision making, and metacognition. Then, we reviewed the result of the experiments in terms of the similarities and differences in the use of uncertainty visualizations within and between tasks. This classification serves as a starting point for further research into the effective design of visualizations of uncertainty.