Interactive Dashboards: Using Visual Analytics for knowledge Transfer and Decision Support

With the advancement in information technologies, complex and multidimensional data are generated at an unprecedented rate. The public health sector is challenged with complex and dynamic health data that are produced and housed in health information systems. These data impose a challenge on data analysts and decision makers to understand and make informed decisions about ‘wicked’ health problems. This study synthesizes the Delphi method approach and the Visual Analytics methodology to solicit experts’ inputs and focus their skills and expertise to inform the design of a visual analytical tool that can be employed to help health professionals to understand complex and heterogeneous health data, build knowledge and make informed decisions. This study introduced the design of an Analytic Injury Dashboard (AID) to help health professionals monitor and understand health indicators to make informed decisions and initiate appropriate actions. Furthermore, this study presents an empirical evaluation of the AID dashboard in a collaborative setting with multiple health stakeholders using real domain health data. Findings generated from this study will help to inform the design of effective visualization dashboard that can be used as a decisionsupport tool within the public health sector. Keywords: Visual Analytics, Public Health, Group Analytics, Problem Solving, Decision-Making. Index Terms: H.5.2 [User Interface]: User-Centered Design; I.3.6 [Methodology and Techniques]: Interaction Techniques; K:4:3 [Organizational Impacts]: Computer Supported Collaborative Work.