Trust in Information Visualization

Abstract

Trust is an important factor that mediates whether a user will rely and build on the information displayed in a visualization. Research in other fields shows that there are different mechanisms of trust building: Users might elaborate the information deeply and gain a good understanding of the uncertainties in the data and quality of the information. But they might also use superficial cues as indicators for trust. Which processes are activated depends on the trustworthiness on the side of the visualization and on the trust perception by the users. We lay out challenges for future research to further improve our understanding of trust in information visualization.