temporal uncertainty

Information retrieved from the real world often contains some kind of inherent uncertainty. In recent years there has been an effort to incorporate this aspect of data into visualizations. This is also true for the representation of temporal data. How this can be done in an intuitive way is still one of many open questions regarding temporal uncertainty visualization. This thesis presents two subsequent user studies, which aim at providing insights into this matter. In the first study, called the Drawing Study, 32 participants are asked to draw their own visualization designs, based on predefined scenarios and tasks. These drawings are analyzed through an open coding approach. The analysis yields a list of hypotheses regarding the intuitiveness of temporal uncertainty visualization. From this list a selection of hypotheses leads to more concrete research questions, which form the basis for the second study, called the User Survey. In this online survey 60 participants compare and rate different visualization approaches in several scenarios. This rating of intuitiveness yields valuable insights for future visualization design. The results indicate that icon representations are not considered intuitive, even though they might seem to be at first glance. It can be argued that icons just need to be designed specifically for certain tasks and scenarios to be perceived intuitive. Furthermore, the results suggest that most people prefer to have uncertainty presented to them, even if it is not relevant for the task at hand. This finding could have important implications for the design of future visualizations.