The Shaping of Information by Visual Metaphors

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The Shaping of Information by Visual Metaphors

• Caroline Ziemkiewicz

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Conceptual metaphors in language
amount is verticality linear scales are
paths flow of events is flow of water
The number of people living in poverty went
up. Can you please decrease the number of
assignments?
The temperature edged toward 90 degrees. Bob was
ahead of Sam in intelligence.
He got carried away. He just drifted through life.
Source George Lakoffs Conceptual Metaphor Home
Page
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Many clearly map to visual metaphors
amount is verticality linear scales are
paths flow of events is flow of water
Source Many Eyes, PNNL
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Visual metaphors in hierarchy visualization
A hierarchy is a series of levels
A hierarchy is a set of nested containers
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• Verbal metaphors structure information in
  language
• Visual metaphors shape information in
  visualizations
• The interaction of the two may affect
  visualization use!

A hierarchy is a set of nested containers
A hierarchy is a series of levels
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Compatible visual and verbal metaphors
Treemap
Node-link
Containers
Levels
1. How many directories enclose the deepest
file? 2. How many total subdirectories are within
the directory "S"? 3. How many files are
immediately inside the directory "I"?
1. How many directories are above the
lowest-level file? 2. How many total
subdirectories are under the directory
"S"? 3.How many files are immediately under the
directory "I"?
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• Evidence exists that these metaphors affect
  visualization use
• Building a theory of visualization structure
  based on visual metaphor