Wednesday discussion

1. Cultural assumption about visual meaning (e.g. black = parasitized; white = uninfected)

2. Is it successful if it can be interpreted immediately -or- if one needs to be more engaged with it?

3. The notion of dominant visual element being recognized first (e.g. bright) and being associated with the most important part of information.

4. The difference between univariate and multivariate...

5. What do you show? What do you hide? Al part of information..

6. Proportion, and how the variable information is proportional to the visual language being used.

7. Having a descriptive title and a captContinuous vs. categorical informaton.ion.

8. Recognizing arbitrary meaning versus specific meaning.

9. Having a key or legend to provide the viewer with a guide to the visual language.

10. Using font , color, size, style etc to set infomation apart.

11. Heirarchy and repetition as tools to structure information.

12. Complementary colors...not too contrasting...subtle differences.

13. For example, if the key is absent, do the symbols still provide meaningful information?

14. Ask leading questions with an eye towards possible solutions.

15. Keeping in mind assumptions and limitations of visual meaning --your audience (e.g. colorblindness).

16. The difference between continuous information and categorical information.

17. Providing instructions for "how to read."

18. Designing so that new informataion becomes apparent (e.g. patient data)

19. Networking .. using hubs to other sources of information.

20. Keeping in mind the many possible functions and articulating your purpose beforehand.

21. The design can be different depending on "how you slice it."