Interactive data visualization for risk assessment: can there be too much user agency?

Abstract

Audiences using interactive data visualizations can experience varying levels of agency as they employ these tools to select scenarios and explore data. While a high level of user agency is often framed in positive terms, this poster presentation argues that too much user agency may be detrimental in certain situations. It focuses on interactive visualizations that display risks associated with sea-level rise (SLR). In these tools, designer constraints on the range of SLR and strong authorial messaging can reduce user agency, but may better inform understanding and decision-making by users.