The Adoption Of Data Visualization Techniques In Humanitarian Organizations

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of data visualization techniques on the overall adoption of data visualizations in humanitarian organizations with reference to Danish Refugee Council, UNOCHA, IOM, IFRC, and DDG. The study established the influence of data visualization techniques, user’s requirements as well as the important features of data visualization in humanitarian organizations. The research design adopted by the study was descriptive where through a purposive sampling method the researcher selected 157 respondents from a total population of 259 drawn from the related departments in the above selected humanitarian organizations. Data was collected through the administering of the questionnaire to the respondents via email and printed copies as well. The study took a quantitative approach and SPSS analytical software was used to analyze the collected data from questionnaires. Studies on the assessment of data visualization techniques are thriving, and associated methodologies have been deliberated in a number of current studies. However, these assessments focus a lot on usability measures as well as cognitive assessments. In contrast, this study has concentrated on the different factors that drive the adoption of data visualization techniques in humanitarian organizations. This study purposed to determine if the Technology Acceptance Model could legitimately be applied on the adoption of data visualization techniques in humanitarian technologies. The Technology Acceptance Model and the Diffusion of Innovations theory were deployed in this study to develop a model for assessing the adoption of data visualization techniques in humanitarian organizations. The proposed model in this study contributed significantly to the Technology Acceptance Model. The proposed model refined and built upon the Technology Acceptance Model by proposing an additional dimension referred to by the study as perceived authority. The proposed dimension complemented the two key dimensions from TAM i.e. perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). As numerous data visualization techniques have not realized mass acceptance, the problem of finding which features cultivate their adoption was significant yet it was under-researched subject. This study found that increasing the capacity of people to not only access data but also to analyze, assess and visualize data to push humanitarian efforts is imperative. Training humanitarian practitioners in applicable data visualization techniques - either remotely or in-person - for both technical and non-technical staff was highly recommended by the study.