A useful tool for data scanning in executive information systems: schematic faces

Decision‐making in executive information systems (EIS) frequently involves scanning complex sets of multidimensional data, which can be difficult with traditional data portrayal techniques. Therefore, schematic faces may be useful in EIS. Schematic faces can represent up to 20 variables by mapping those variables to the salient facial features so that positive outcomes result in a happier looking face, thus simplifying the data scanning process. The composites of the variables, i.e. the faces, aid management by providing a sophisticated graphical interface between the data and the decision maker. An experiment was conducted to compare decision time and accuracy when basing decisions on tables, bar charts, and schematic faces. The gender and cognitive style of subjects were also considered. MANOVA results indicate that both decision speed and accuracy are better when viewing schematic faces. Cognitive style was also a significant factor in the model.