Reflections on Representations ◾ 285
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
16.4.13 Viscosity
e whiteboard is highly exible, and therefore exhibits low viscosity, at least when it is
sparsely populated. Marks are accessible, easily changed, and exible, and the designers
routinely made swi small changes by wiping o a mark with a nger and then revising
the representation. Annotations and small changes can be added at low cost, at least until
the clarity is impaired and the whiteboard must be rewritten. Making a systemic change,
on the other hand (e.g., changing the color coding, or adding a new category of informa-
tion), could require altering each instance in turn, a form of repetition viscosity. Making
changes that require more boa ...