How neuroticism affects user interaction in high-dimensional data visualization

Tiago Miguel Consciência Delgado

Key information

Authors:

Tiago Miguel Consciência Delgado (Tiago Miguel Consciência Delgado)

Supervisors:

Sandra Pereira Gama (Sandra Pereira Gama); Daniel Jorge Viegas Gonçalves (Daniel Jorge Viegas Gonçalves)

Published in

November 15, 2022

Abstract

The impact of individual differences, such as personality traits, on user performance and human behaviors has been studied in several fields of human-computer interaction, with a growing interest in information visualization. Although most visualizations are still designed with a universal approach, great strides have been made toward the development of user-adaptive visualizations catered to the user’s personality. We analyze how personality affects user interaction with high-dimensional visualizations. Specifically, we explore the impact of neuroticism in user performance and confidence when using the scatterplot matrix and the parallel coordinates plot, in a decision-making context, through a user study. Results suggest that neurotic individuals are faster with the scatterplot matrix, while individuals with an internal locus are more confident when using the parallel coordinates plot. Results also indicate that the facets of neuroticism have significant effects on user performance and confidence, which differ from neuroticism itself and point toward the need to analyze personality traits at a lower level. Additionally, neurotic individuals made better decisions under perceived risk in the context of a serious game.