Shenghan Gao

Supply chains (SCs), complex networks spanning from raw material acquisition to product delivery, with enterprises as interconnected nodes, play a pivotal role in organizational success. However, optimizing SCs remains challenging, particularly in partner selection, a key bottleneck shaped by both competitive and cooperative dynamics. This challenge inherently constitutes a multi-objective dynamic game requiring a synergistic integration of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) and Game Theory (GT). Traditional approaches, grounded in mathematical simplifications and managerial heuristics, often fail to capture real-world intricacies and risk introducing subjective biases. Multi-agent simulation (MAS) offers promise, but prior research has largely relied on fixed, uniform agent logic, limiting practical applicability. Recent advances in Large Language Models (LLMs) create new opportunities to represent complex SC requirements and hybrid game logic. However, challenges persist in modeling dynamic SC relationships, ensuring interpretability, and balancing agent autonomy with expert control. To address these issues, we present SCSimulator, an exploratory visual analytics framework that integrates LLM-driven MAS with human-in-the-loop collaboration for SC partner selection. SCSimulator simulates SC evolution via adaptive network structures and enterprise behaviors, which are visualized via interpretable interfaces. By combining Chain-of-Thought (CoT) reasoning with explainable AI (XAI) techniques, the framework generates multi-faceted, transparent explanations of decision trade-offs. Users can iteratively adjust simulation settings to explore outcomes aligned with their expectations and strategic priorities. Developed through iterative co-design with SC experts and industry managers, SCSimulator serves as a proof-of-concept, offering both methodological contributions and practical insights for future research on SC decision-making and interactive AI-driven analytics. Usage scenarios and a user study further demonstrate the system’s effectiveness and usability.

Online comments significantly influence users’ judgments, yet their presentation, often determined by platform algorithms, can introduce biases, such as anchoring effects, which distort reasoning. While existing research emphasizes mitigating individual cognitive biases, the evolution of user judgments during comment engagement remains overlooked. This study investigates how presentation cues impact reasoning and explores interface design strategies to mitigate bias. Through a preliminary experiment (N=18) and a co-design workshop, we identified key challenges users face across a four-stage process and distilled four design requirements: pre-engagement framing, interactive organization, reflective prompts, and synthesis support. Based on these insights, we developed CommSense, an on-the-fly plugin that enhances user engagement with online comments by providing visual overviews and lightweight prompts to guide reasoning. A between-subject evaluation (N=24) demonstrates that CommSense improves bias awareness and reflective thinking, helping users produce more comprehensive, evidence-based rationales while maintaining high usability.