Solving Big Design Problems

Issue 22

Adventures in UX Design is a newsletter helping you navigate UX roadblocks

The digital world belches out data like hot lava from an active volcano, 2.5 quintillion bytes of it per day. We don’t sift or page through data, we use programs to mine it for information. We creatively explore and identify patterns within data sets using visual models. Not all of the data and information we produce is pertinent or even useful, and most of it can be tossed aside on digital slag heaps along with troll comments, images of a bare chested Vladimir Putin, and fake news. Thankfully, most of us aren’t being asked to grok data sets in the quintillions. Our goals are much simpler, yet some of us still struggle.

What most of us are asked to do is frame and communicate information that is sometimes complex in a way that makes sense to the average person. Many of us are tasked with communicating data visually, from complicated data visualizations to more manageable information graphics, sitemaps, user journey maps, Venn diagrams, service blueprints, and so on.

We use visual models to helps us make sense of data and information, to understand and solve problems, make better decisions, and communicate what matters.

From the simplest methods to the more complex, learning how to visualize and design information for understanding, even for those of us not artistically inclined, is an important tool to keep sharpened in every design and user experience professional’s toolbox — even, arguably, a necessary one.

Breaking Down Visual Models

We use visual models all the time to make sense of information, scribbled on napkins and in notebooks, spread out across charts and graphics, and in the mapping of user experiences. Some templates for this kind of modeling are effective, while others seem to breed more confusion and complexity than they intend. How do we get it right?

Templates for these models might be an easy bet for the designer to use, but they all have their quirks and limitations. Stephen Anderson challenges us to create the right model for the data and information we have by understanding the elements we use to create them.

Visual models, says Stephen, represent literal as well as conceptual ideas, and can be used for everything from comparing the pros and cons of something, like buying an Android phone, to exploring difficult problems visually.

He uses the analogy of a recipe to explain the advantage of learning visual language. When we know the ingredients to a recipe, and understand the basics of cooking, we can improvise; customize the recipe to what we have on hand, and to our tastes.

When we understand the elements of visual language, we can explore and communicate data more deeply by creating and customizing our own maps and models. We can also identify more easily why some model templates miss the mark.

What are the elements of visual language? Stephen breaks down successful visual models and the elements within in his virtual seminar. He begins by looking at the structure. Every visual model contains the same critical elements.

Substrate

• This is the most important part of your model: the base. What will it be? Objects are placed on the substrate to illuminate patterns from the data. For example, if you want to visualize places you’ve explored, the substrate would be a map and the objects/indicators you place on it would relate to places you’ve traveled.

Objects / Visual Encodings

• Those things that we absorb immediately, sometimes before we are even conscious of it. Objects are those elements placed on the substrate and include line length, line width, size, proximity, density, color, motion, iconography, perspective, and more.

Placement / Spatial Positioning

• The way things are arranged (proximity) and sequenced on your substrate is important for deriving meaning from the data. How do you determine the best arrangement to use? For example: interval arrangement, categorical arrangement, and ordinal arrangement.
• Determining the sequence: vertical or horizontal direction, circular, spiral, diagonal, or central/peripheral?

Territories / Spatial Properties

Territories are the groupings your data/objects will form.

• Boundaries
• Shape
• Relationships
• Visual Treatments

WATCH: Using Visual Models to Solve Big Design Problems with Stephen Anderson

You need to start communicating complex ideas and concepts with compelling visualizations. To do that you’ll want to spend a day in this amazing UX Immersion: Interactions workshop with Stephen Anderson. Stephen is a world renowned speaker and author of the books, “Seductive Interaction Design” and “Design for Understanding”, which is exactly why you want to learn about visualization from him.