Information and Experience Visualization: An Analysis Approach and Decision-Making Tool for the Usability Research

With the transformation and development of the age of network, information and digital, information has evolved into the basic exchange in our lives. Information visualization serves as a communication and dialogue interface between people and objects, between human and environments, and between individuals themselves. It emphasizes the context of information application scenarios and the need to effectively convey information oriented to users’ needs and purposes, providing users with sound and efficient meaningful behavior guidance as well as experience characterized by cultural metaphors and aesthetic significance. In the usability research of products and services, visualization is a means of external representation of thinking as well as an expression method of cognitive tools or conceptual structures. Based on dematerialized service systems, user behavior and experience, information and experience visualization present quantitative or qualitative usability-related research in an intuitive and figurative manner. In this way, it enables us to objectively understand the operational status of products or services, analyze the effectiveness and adaptability of links between process tasks, functional architectures, system feedback of user behaviors and experience. In addition, it offers guidance and new insights and plays an analytical and decision-making role in solving complex problems. Meanwhile, visualization represents an ideal tool to help the team to promote comprehensive cognition, build consensus to ensure smooth communication in the design research process.