Article ID: | iaor201111772 |
Volume: | 52 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 318 |
End Page Number: | 330 |
Publication Date: | Jan 2012 |
Journal: | Decision Support Systems |
Authors: | Santhanam Radhika, Shen Milton, Carswell Melody, Bailey Kyle |
Keywords: | data presentation, decision support |
Recent information technologies make it possible to include sophisticated three‐dimensional display formats in emergency management information systems (EMIS), decision‐support systems that facilitate decision making in crisis situations. However, if decision makers are to improve their decisional performance, they must correctly identify appropriate situations for using these formats. We conduct two experiments and find that, as prior research has suggested, decision makers do not choose the most appropriate display format, but their performance improves when given prospective decisional guidance. We discuss implications of these findings for EMIS design, for the training of emergency management professionals, and for future research on display formats and decisional guidance.