Information Visualization, 3rd Edition

Chapter Five

Visual Salience and Finding Information

Suppose there is a crisis at a large bank because an employee, George, has lost billions on risky stock trades. We need to identify the vice president who is responsible for George’s activities, and we have at our disposal an organization chart showing the management hierarchy of the company. This problem can be solved through a straightforward visual thinking process. First, conduct a visual search for the box representing George, then visually trace upward, following the chain of lines and boxes up to the level of vice president.

Another example: Suppose we are looking at the floor plan of a museum building and we wish to find a coffee shop. We locate the symbol for coffee shop on the key ...