Background: The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) enables the collection of momentary self-reports on thoughts, emotions, and behaviour in daily life. However, there is limited practical guidance on how to visualize this data to support practitioners.
Objective:
Background: The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) enables the collection of momentary self-reports on thoughts, emotions, and behaviour in daily life. However, there is limited practical guidance on how to visualize this data to support practitioners.
Objective: This study aimed to explore how ESM data can be visualized to effectively communicate treatment effectiveness to mental health practitioners.
Methodology: A design-based approach was used to guide the development of two ESM visualizations. Visualization 1 consisting of a single temporal line graph and Visualization 2 consisting of a dashboard-style layout with four graphs. Practitioners, psychology students and medicine students completed a questionnaire evaluating the clarity, interpretability, and perceived clinical utility of the visualizations. Thematic analysis was conducted on the responses.
Results: Analysis of the responses from ten participants revealed four themes: (1) preference for single temporal line graphs due to their clarity and intuitive presentation of change over time, (2) usability challenges in complex dashboards, particularly with dual axes and ambiguous terminology, (3) value of contextual variables, such as interactions and homework completion, in understanding therapy progress and (4) a strong desire for customization to fit client-specific needs.
Conclusion: Clear visualizations of ESM data may support practitioners in assessing therapy effectiveness, especially when they enable reasoning about both therapeutic change and contextual influences. However, individual differences in interpretation underscore the need for flexibility and customizability.
