Effective communication of multistage cancer treatment trajectories remains a major challenge, particularly for patients with limited health literacy. We present a patient-centered visualization approach for representing complex, phase-based oncology treatments, integrating principles from information visualization, user experience (UX) design, and cognitive psychology. Using acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as a case study, we developed two timeline-based representations: a static, visually simplified trajectory emphasizing structure and hierarchy, and an interactive variant with layered information. We evaluated both approaches in a quantitative survey, measuring comprehension of treatment sequences, perceived confidence, and information quality. Results show that the static visualization significantly improves understanding and clarity, highlighting the importance of visual hierarchy, consistent encoding, and reduced complexity when communicating temporal medical processes compared to the baseline. In contrast, additional interactivity did not improve performance and introduced navigational overhead, suggesting that interaction must be carefully aligned with cognitive demands. Our findings contribute to visualization research by demonstrating how patient-centered design can improve the interpretability of multistage treatment trajectories. We derive design implications for temporal medical visualizations, emphasizing simplicity, structural clarity, and accessibility to support informed decision-making in clinical contexts.

翻译：多阶段癌症治疗轨迹的有效沟通仍是一项重大挑战，尤其对于健康素养有限的患者而言。我们提出了一种以患者为中心的可视化方法，用于呈现复杂的、基于阶段的肿瘤治疗方案，该方法整合了信息可视化、用户体验设计和认知心理学原理。以急性髓系白血病为例，我们开发了两种基于时间线的表示形式：一种静态的、视觉简化的轨迹，强调结构和层次结构；另一种交互式变体，采用分层信息。我们通过定量调查评估了两种方法，衡量了对治疗序列的理解、感知信心和信息质量。结果表明，与基线相比，静态可视化显著提高了理解力和清晰度，凸显了在传达时间性医疗过程时，视觉层次、一致编码和降低复杂性的重要性。相比之下，额外的交互性并未提高性能，反而引入了导航开销，这表明交互必须与认知需求仔细对齐。我们的研究通过证明以患者为中心的设计如何提高多阶段治疗轨迹的可解释性，为可视化研究做出了贡献。我们得出了时间性医疗可视化的设计启示，强调简洁性、结构清晰度和可访问性，以支持临床背景下的知情决策。