Visual Access to Performance Indicators in the Mining Sector

Abstract

We introduce a visualization system that provides visual interactive access to information relevant for decision making in the mining sector. The mining sector is one of the most important industries in developing countries, especially in Africa. Stakeholders like governments, investors, and the civil society play an important role in the growth of the mining sector. They are interested in information reviewing individual country performances towards mining. The Mining Investment and Governance Review (MInGov) dataset explicitly addresses this issue. However, the complex data structure introduces challenges for the intuitive and easy understanding of the information. Together with mining sector experts, we conducted a design study with the goal to provide visual interactive access to investment- and policy-related information. We report on a domain characterization of the MInGov dataset, its potential users, and their tasks. Based on this analysis, we design a visualization system that supports mining-related decision making. Finally, we evaluate the visualization system in a user workshop with domain experts.