Yvonne M' Hansen Visualization for Thinking, Planning, and Problem Solving

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Yvonne M. Hansen Visualization for Thinking,
Planning, and Problem Solving

• Simple, graphic shapes, the building blocks of a
  graphical language, play an instrumental role in
  cognition, visual thinking, and communication of
  complex, dynamically changing realities

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Information comes from 3 sources

• External - the observable world what is seen
  and perceived printed texts, verbal accounts,
  media presentations, etc.
• Internal - ones own images, ideas,
  visualizations, and perceptions
• Combination - external and internal sources
  informing the understandings and perceptions
  that create new combinations of knowledge

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Words

• most common form of communication
• do not occur simultaneously in the mind (I cant
  find the right words)
• may be too abstract to represent symbolic
  representations that form ideas
• are often ambiguous (Stud tires out)
• impede understanding because they unable to deal
  with information overload
• have difficulty accurately identifying chaos,
  disorder, and randomness

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Graphics as language - 1

• exist in many forms, such as travel signage,
  organizations and disciplines
• begin at a developmental stage in life
• can represent concepts and ideas in a way that
  brings order to randomness and disorder
• visual means of organizing relationships, and
  what those relationships represent

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Graphics as language - 2

• may be able to communicate complex matters in a
  way that would otherwise take vast amounts of
  words
• may be able to free the mind otherwise
  constrained to the narrowness of words, labels,
  and classification systems
• using graphics along with words allows the user
  to see relationships and structure among data
  that are obscured in a text-only situation
• identify patterns and irregularities more easily

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The Graphic Tools

• Circle, Square, Triangle, Line, Point, Fuzzy, and
  Combination
• Based on many Gestalt principles such as
  similarity, enclosure, symmetry, etc.
• Normally used in combination to express and idea
  or concept, reveal relationships, and capture the
  formation of new thoughts
• Multiple combinations can represent entire
  systems, and have proved to be effective in
  collaborative work situations

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Ways to represent objects range from abstract to
concrete

• Most abstract Verbal Symbols
• definitions, descriptions, labels
• Less abstract (More concrete) Graphic Symbols
• image related graphics, concept related graphics,
  arbitrary graphics
• Most concrete Pictorial Symbols
• 3D models, sculptures, reliefs, photographs,
  illustrations, drawings

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Animation

• Useful for showing process
• Useful for emphasizing aspects of a graphical
  representation (directing the audiences
  attention)
• Comprehension by re-creation
• complex movements
• complex environments
• Provides the opportunity for multiple P.O.V.

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Simulations and Interactive Experiences

• real-world activity without costs of real-world
  consequences
• practice to acquire knowledge and skills
• engages the audience, attunes them to the
  information being presented
• allows natural clustering of information,
  improving comprehension of ideas