IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v11y2000i3p284-303.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Do We Understand a System with (So) Many Diagrams? Cognitive Integration Processes in Diagrammatic Reasoning

Author

Listed:
  • Jinwoo Kim

    (Yonsei University, Department of Business Administration, Seoul, 120–749, Korea)

  • Jungpil Hahn

    (University of Minnesota, Information and Decision Sciences, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455)

  • Hyoungmee Hahn

    (LG Hitachi, Seoul, 150–756, Korea)

Abstract

In order to understand diagrammatic reasoning with multiple diagrams, this study proposes a theoretical framework that focuses on the cognitive processes of perceptual and conceptual integration. The perceptual integration process involves establishing interdependence between relevant system elements that have been dispersed across multiple diagrams, while the conceptual integration process involves generating and refining hypotheses about a system by combining higher-level information inferred from the diagrams. This study applies a diagrammatic reasoning framework of a single diagram to assess the usability of multiple diagrams as an integral part of a system development methodology. Our experiment evaluated the effectiveness and usability of design guidelines to aid problem solving with multiple diagrams. The results of our experiment revealed that understanding a system represented by multiple diagrams involves a process of searching for related information and of developing hypotheses about the target system. The results also showed that these perceptual and conceptual integration processes were facilitated by incorporating visual cues and contextual information in the multiple diagrams as representation aids. Visual cues indicate which elements in a diagram are related to elements in other diagrams; the contextual information indicates how the individual datum in one diagram is related to the overall hypothesis about the entire system.

Suggested Citation

  • Jinwoo Kim & Jungpil Hahn & Hyoungmee Hahn, 2000. "How Do We Understand a System with (So) Many Diagrams? Cognitive Integration Processes in Diagrammatic Reasoning," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 284-303, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:11:y:2000:i:3:p:284-303
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.11.3.284.12206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.11.3.284.12206
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.11.3.284.12206?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jinwoo Kim & F. Javier Lerch, 1997. "Why Is Programming (Sometimes) So Difficult? Programming as Scientific Discovery in Multiple Problem Spaces," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 8(1), pages 25-50, March.
    2. Iris Vessey & Dennis Galletta, 1991. "Cognitive Fit: An Empirical Study of Information Acquisition," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 63-84, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bin Zhu & Stephanie A. Watts, 2010. "Visualization of Network Concepts: The Impact of Working Memory Capacity Differences," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 327-344, June.
    2. Andrew Burton-Jones & Peter N. Meso, 2006. "Conceptualizing Systems for Understanding: An Empirical Test of Decomposition Principles in Object-Oriented Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 38-60, March.
    3. Merete Hvalshagen & Roman Lukyanenko & Binny M. Samuel, 2023. "Empowering Users with Narratives: Examining the Efficacy of Narratives for Understanding Data-Oriented Conceptual Models," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 890-909, September.
    4. Yair Wand & Ron Weber, 2002. "Research Commentary: Information Systems and Conceptual Modeling—A Research Agenda," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 363-376, December.
    5. Jan Claes & Irene Vanderfeesten & Frederik Gailly & Paul Grefen & Geert Poels, 2015. "The Structured Process Modeling Theory (SPMT) a cognitive view on why and how modelers benefit from structuring the process of process modeling," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1401-1425, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sulin Ba & Jan Stallaert & Andrew B. Whinston, 2001. "Research Commentary: Introducing a Third Dimension in Information Systems Design—The Case for Incentive Alignment," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(3), pages 225-239, September.
    2. Klein, Thomas Michael & Drobnik, Thomas & Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne, 2016. "Shedding light on the usability of ecosystem services–based decision support systems: An eye-tracking study linked to the cognitive probing approach," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 65-86.
    3. Rikhardsson, Pall & Yigitbasioglu, Ogan, 2018. "Business intelligence & analytics in management accounting research: Status and future focus," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 37-58.
    4. Dunn, Cheryl L. & Gerard, Gregory J. & Grabski, Severin V., 2017. "The combined effects of user schemas and degree of cognitive fit on data retrieval performance," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 46-67.
    5. Beynon, Malcolm J., 2005. "A novel technique of object ranking and classification under ignorance: An application to the corporate failure risk problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(2), pages 493-517, December.
    6. Yani Wang & Jun Wang & Tang Yao, 2019. "What makes a helpful online review? A meta-analysis of review characteristics," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 257-284, June.
    7. Dilla, William N. & Raschke, Robyn L., 2015. "Data visualization for fraud detection: Practice implications and a call for future research," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 1-22.
    8. Ujwal Kayande & Arnaud De Bruyn & Gary L. Lilien & Arvind Rangaswamy & Gerrit H. van Bruggen, 2009. "How Incorporating Feedback Mechanisms in a DSS Affects DSS Evaluations," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 527-546, December.
    9. Marimo, Pricilla & Kaplan, Todd R & Mylne, Ken & Sharpe, Martin, 2012. "Communication of uncertainty in weather forecasts," MPRA Paper 38287, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. France Belanger & Rosann Webb Collins & Paul H. Cheney, 2001. "Technology Requirements and Work Group Communication for Telecommuters," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 155-176, June.
    11. Parsons, Linda M. & Tinkelman, Daniel, 2013. "Testing the feasibility of small multiples of sparklines to display semimonthly income statement data," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 58-76.
    12. Bergeron, François & Raymond, Louis & Rivard, Suzanne, 2001. "Fit in strategic information technology management research: an empirical comparison of perspectives," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 125-142, April.
    13. Norbert Koppenhagen & Benjamin Mueller & Alexander Maedche & Ye Li & Stephanie Hiller, 2016. "Designing a supply network artifact for data, process, and people integration," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 613-636, August.
    14. Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi, 2020. "Understanding consumers’ paths to webrooming: A complexity approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    15. Jan Claes & Irene Vanderfeesten & Frederik Gailly & Paul Grefen & Geert Poels, 2015. "The Structured Process Modeling Theory (SPMT) a cognitive view on why and how modelers benefit from structuring the process of process modeling," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1401-1425, December.
    16. Collan, Mikael, 2007. "Lazy User Behaviour," MPRA Paper 4330, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Tsao, Wen-Yu, 2013. "The fitness of product information: Evidence from online recommendations," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-9.
    18. Christine Rzepka & Benedikt Berger & Thomas Hess, 2022. "Voice Assistant vs. Chatbot – Examining the Fit Between Conversational Agents’ Interaction Modalities and Information Search Tasks," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 839-856, June.
    19. Lisa Perkhofer & Conny Walchshofer & Peter Hofer, 2020. "Does design matter when visualizing Big Data? An empirical study to investigate the effect of visualization type and interaction use," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 55-95, April.
    20. Srivastava, Vartika & Kalro, Arti D., 2019. "Enhancing the Helpfulness of Online Consumer Reviews: The Role of Latent (Content) Factors," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 33-50.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:11:y:2000:i:3:p:284-303. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.