A comprehensive framework is presented for analyzing and specifying an extensive range of visualizations in terms of their fundamental 'DNA' building blocks of visual encoding and (de)composition.
A ‘universal grammar’ for the full spectrum of visualization types is discussed. The grammar enables the analysis of any type of visualization regarding its syntactic constituents, such as the types of visual encodings and visual components that are used. Such an analysis of a type of visualization, describing its compositional syntax, can be represented as a specification tree. Colour coded tree branches between constituent types enforce the combination rules visually. We discuss how these specification trees differ from linguistic parse trees, and how visual statements differ from verbal statements. The grammar offers a basis for generating visualization options, and the potential for formalization and for machine-readable specifications. This may serve as a basis for a system providing computer-generated visualization advice.
A comprehensive framework is presented for analyzing and specifying an extensive range of visualizations, such as statistical charts, maps, family trees, Venn diagrams, flow charts, texts using indenting, technical drawings and scientific illustrations. This paper describes how the fundamental ‘DNA’ building blocks of visual encoding and composition can be combined into ‘visualization patterns’ that specify these and other types of visualizations. We offer different ways of specifying each visualization pattern, including through a DNA tree diagram and through a rigorously systematic natural language sentence. Using this framework, a design tool is proposed for exploring visualization design options.
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