DARC: A Visual Analytics System for Multivariate Applicant Data Aggregation, Reasoning and Comparison

People often make decisions based on their comprehensive understanding of various materials, judgement of reasons, and comparison among choices. For instance, when hiring committees review multivariate applicant data, they need to consider and compare different aspects of the applicants’ materials. However, the amount and complexity of multivariate data increase the difficulty to analyze the data, extract the most salient information, and then rapidly form opinions based on the extracted information. Thus, a fast and comprehensive understanding of multivariate data sets is a pressing need in many fields, such as business and education. In this work, we had in-depth interviews with stakeholders and characterized user requirements involved in data-driven decision making in reviewing school applications. Based on these requirements, we propose DARC, a visual analytics system for facilitating decision making on multivariate applicant data. Through the system, users are supported to gain insights of the multivariate data, picture an overview of all data cases, and retrieve original data in a quick and intuitive manner. The effectiveness of DARC is validated through observational user evaluations and interviews.