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Notes to Chapter Six

Notes to Chapter Six. English 308. Nonlinear Components. Nonlinear design is chosen, either because Readers can more easily, accurately, or conventionally access the textual information in a nonlinear form rather than in paragraphs or continuous text

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Notes to Chapter Six

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  1. Notes to Chapter Six English 308 Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  2. Nonlinear Components Nonlinear design is chosen, either because • Readers can more easily, accurately, or conventionally access the textual information in a nonlinear form rather than in paragraphs or continuous text • The relations among the textual elements call for a schematic rather than literal, line-by-line expression. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  3. For example, tabular data Can be represented as • Jared Miller, catcher and pitcher, bats right and throws right, five foot eleven inches tall, weight 205 pounds, senior, from Arcadia HS in Phoenix, Arizona • Paul Beringhaus, pitcher, bats left and throws left, six foot one inch tall, weight 170 pounds, sophomore, from Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona • Etc. Or Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  4. As a nonlinear matrix Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  5. Nonlinear Displays Reveal • Nonlinear displays often reveal facts and relationships that linear description hides. • For example, from the table on the previous page it is easy to see that there are only two seniors on the team, that Paul is the only left-handed pitcher on the team, and that four players went to high school in Arizona. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  6. Schematic Representation Some information is nearly impossible to put in linear text form. Take this decision chart used by students at the University of Nevada at Reno to determine the right meal plan for them. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  7. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  8. More Schematic Representation • Or consider how useless words alone are when trying to describe the complex organizational structure of the United States Department of Justice Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  9. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  10. A Variety of Genres Nonlinear displays include • Tables • Flowcharts • Organizational charts • Decision trees • Concept charts Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  11. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Textual Elements Textual elements provide • The raw material of nonlinear displays (i.e. data in tables, labels in charts) • Row and column headings in tables Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  12. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Spatial Elements Spatial elements can be a • String—one-directional track of text units arranged horizontally or vertically • Matrix—two-dimensional arrangement (horizontal and vertical) • Branching display—a hierarchical structure that usually begins with one or a few units and then branches into many. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  13. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Spatial Elements Strings Draft  Revise  Edit Proofread Draft  Revise  Edit  Proofread Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  14. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Spatial Elements Matrix Santos has 5 home runs Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  15. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Spatial Elements Branching Display Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  16. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Graphic Elements Graphic elements can serve as • Framing Devices • Linking Devices Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  17. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Graphic Elements Framing devices include Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  18. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Graphic Elements Linking devices include Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  19. Conventions of Nonlinear Displays—Graphic Elements Linking devices also include the lines in a table, which guide the eye across rows or down columns Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  20. Applying the Cognate Strategies How do we apply this rich visual vocabulary to nonlinear displays? We can do so by considering the six cognate strategies. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  21. Arrangement Questions • How can I use the visual language to signal relationships—parallel, hierarchical, syntactical—among the text units? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  22. Arrangement Strategies • Work with existing genres—flowcharts and organization charts show hierarchy well, while directional arrows show syntax (sequence) • Determine the primary relationships that exist between the data and take into account how users will use the display Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  23. A traditional organization chart is hierarchical, implying a clear chain of command Arrangement Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  24. A different display might emphasize a less hierarchical management style Arrangement Strategies (cont.) Operations Mgr President Sales Mgr Operations Staff Finance Mgr Sales Staff Finance Staff Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  25. Determine the primary relationships that exist. For example, what’s wrong with the table below? Arrangement Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  26. Tables usually are arranged with characteristics or values as the columns and individuals or items as the rows. Arrangement Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  27. Emphasis Questions • Which text units need to stand out more than others? • How can I use visual language to get readers to notice these text units? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  28. Emphasis Strategies • Because nonlinear text is often isolated in fragments, arranged in space, and framed and linked by boxes and lines, the designer can readily select which elements to emphasize. • However, emphasis strategies are often the subtle management of emphasis across a variety of elements. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  29. Emphasis Strategies The table below uses shading to call attention to a pattern in the data. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  30. Emphasis Strategies (cont.) • There is no emphasis on any particular item in the flowchart below. Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  31. Emphasis Strategies (cont.) • These versions emphasize “Revise” Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  32. Emphasis Strategies (cont.) • These versions emphasize “Revise” while de-emphasizing “Edit” Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  33. Clarity Questions • How can I ensure that readers will understand the display? • Am I using spatial and graphic conventions they understand? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  34. Clarity Strategies Watch • Too wide columns in tables • Hard to read/distinguish headings • Not following conventions Try using • Shading to distinguish adjacent columns or rows • Sans serif fonts for data displays • Boldface for row and column headings Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  35. The table below is a bit difficult to read. Simple changes can make it much more readable. Clarity Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  36. We can add 3 points of leading and narrow the columns. Clarity Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  37. We can make the column headings bold and add horizontal lines to improve tracking. Clarity Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  38. We can add vertical lines to improve tracking. This, however, creates a “boxy” look. Clarity Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  39. We can remove the vertical lines and try to differentiate the columns by using shading. This approach might be over-design (checkerboard pattern creates unexpected emphasis). Clarity Strategies (cont.) Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  40. Conciseness Questions • How can I get the most impact for the least use of design elements? • How can I avoid over-designing the display? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  41. Conciseness Strategies • Rarely is it appropriate to sacrifice clarity for conciseness, since lack of clarity might render the display useless, as in the following example. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  42. Conciseness Strategies • While we can figure out what this table is for, it is not easy? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  43. Conciseness Strategies • This table is less concise, but it is more usable. It might, however, be over-designed. Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  44. Conciseness Strategies (cont.) Sometimes redundancy is necessary, as in this simple flowchart. Is the weakness confined to one area of the body? Yes Yes SEE PHYSICIAN TODAY Is it present now? No No MAKE APPOINTMENT WITH PHYSICIAN Is the weakness associated with flu or cold symptoms? Yes APPLY HOME TREATMENT No APPLY HOME TREATMENT Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  45. Tone Questions • How do I want the tone of the text field to sound to my readers: serious, friendly, tentative, authoritarian, non-threatening, formal, informal? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  46. Tone Strategies • How does this display sound? Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  47. Tone Strategies • How does this compare? Draft Revise Edit Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  48. Tone Strategies (cont.) Here’s the medical flowchart we just looked at. Is the weakness confined to one area of the body? Yes Yes SEE PHYSICIAN TODAY Is it present now? No No MAKE APPOINTMENT WITH PHYSICIAN Is the weakness associated with flu or cold symptoms? Yes APPLY HOME TREATMENT No APPLY HOME TREATMENT Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  49. Tone Strategies (cont.) Here’s it is again, with a very different tone. Yes Yes Is the weakness confined to one area of the body? SEE PHYSICIAN TODAY Is it present now? No No MAKE APPOINTMENT WITH PHYSICIAN Is the weakness associated with flu or cold symptoms? Yes APPLY HOME TREATMENT No APPLY HOME TREATMENT Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

  50. Ethos Questions • How can I use the visual language of the display to create credibility for me, the other authors, or the organization? Designing Visual Language-Chapter 6

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