DecisionFlow: Visual Analytics for High-Dimensional Temporal Event Sequence Data

IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph. 2014 Dec;20(12):1783-92. doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2014.2346682.

Abstract

Temporal event sequence data is increasingly commonplace, with applications ranging from electronic medical records to financial transactions to social media activity. Previously developed techniques have focused on low-dimensional datasets (e.g., with less than 20 distinct event types). Real-world datasets are often far more complex. This paper describes DecisionFlow, a visual analysis technique designed to support the analysis of high-dimensional temporal event sequence data (e.g., thousands of event types). DecisionFlow combines a scalable and dynamic temporal event data structure with interactive multi-view visualizations and ad hoc statistical analytics. We provide a detailed review of our methods, and present the results from a 12-person user study. The study results demonstrate that DecisionFlow enables the quick and accurate completion of a range of sequence analysis tasks for datasets containing thousands of event types and millions of individual events.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Databases, Factual
  • Decision Making, Computer-Assisted
  • Electronic Health Records
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medical Informatics / methods*
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • User-Computer Interface*