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
Information comes from 3
sources
• External - the observable world; what is seen
and perceived; printed texts, verbal accounts,
media presentations, etc.
• Internal - one’s own images, ideas,
visualizations, and perceptions
• Combination - external and internal sources
informing the understandings and perceptions
that create new combinations of knowledge
Words
• most common form of communication
• do not occur simultaneously in the mind (“I
can’t 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
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
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
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
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
Animation
• Useful for showing process
• Useful for emphasizing aspects of a graphical
representation (directing the audience’s
attention)
• Comprehension by re-creation
– complex movements
– complex environments
• Provides the opportunity for multiple P.O.V.
Simulations and Interactive
Experiences
• real-world activity without costs of realworld 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