An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Color and Graphical Information Presentation Under Varying Time Constraints

The combined report, which integrated the advantages associated with both tabular and graphical presentation, was the superior report format in terms of performance ad was rated very highly by decision makers.

Abstract

A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the influence of color and information presentation differences on user perceptions and decision making under varying time constraints. Three different information presentations were evaluated: tabular, graphical, and combined tabular-graphical. Tabular reports led to better decision making and graphical reports led to faster decision making when time constraints were low. The combined report, which integrated the advantages associated with both tabular and graphical presentation, was the superior report format in terms of performance and was rated very highly by decision makers. Color led to improvements in decision making; this was especially pronounced when high time constraints were present.