Optimising visual solutions for complex strategic scenarios

Abstract

Attempts to pre-emptively improve post-disaster outcomes need to reflect an improved understanding of cognitive adaptations made by collaborating researchers and practitioners. This research explored the use of visual logic models to enhance the quality of decisions being made by these professionals. The research looked at the way visual representations serve to enhance these decisions, as part of cognitive adaptations to considering the complexity of relevant pre-disaster conditions constituting community resilience. It was proposed that a visual logic model display, using boxes and arrows to display linkages between activities and downstream objectives, could support effective, efficient and responsive approaches to relevant community resilience interventions being carried out in a pre-disaster context.

The first of three phases comprising this thesis used Q-methodology to identify patterns of opinions concerning building a shared framework of pre-disaster, community resilience indicators for this purpose. Three patterns identified helped to assess the needs for applied research undertaken in phase two. The second phase of this thesis entailed building an action-focused logic model to enhance associated collaborations between emergency management practitioners and researchers. An analysis of participant interviews determined that the process used to build this logic model served as a catalyst for research which could help improve community resilience interventions. The third phase used an experimental approach to different display formats produced during phase two to test whether a visual logic model display stimulated a higher quality of decisions, compared with a more conventional, text-based chart of KPIs. Results supported the use of similar methods for much larger scale research to assess how information displays support emergency management decisions with wide-ranging, longer-term implications.

Overall, results from these three phases indicate that certain logic model formats can help foster collaborative efforts to improve characteristics of community resilience against disasters. This appears to occur when a logic model forms an integrated component of efficient cognitive dynamics across a network of decision making agents. This understanding of logic model function highlights clear opportunities for further research. It also represents a novel contribution to knowledge about using logic models to support emergency management decisions with complex, long term implications.

Publications

1. Huggins, T.J., Peace, R., Hill, S.R., Johnston, D.M., & Cuevas, A. (2015a). Politics of practical and academic knowledge: A Q-method analysis of gauging community disaster resilience. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 23, 246-256. doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12092.
2. Huggins, T.J., Peace, R., Hill, S.R., Johnston, D.M., & Cuevas, A. (2015b). Visually modelling collaborative research into innovative community disaster resilience practice, strategy and governance. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 6, 282-294. doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0061-6.
3. Huggins, T.J., Hill, S.R. Peace, R., & Johnston, D.M. (2015). Assessing displays for supporting strategic emergency management. Disaster Prevention and Management, 24, 635-650. doi: 10.1108/DPM-05-2015-0100