Frame: the problem and its names
This file says the problem of the figures topic in one sentence, and gives the names that research and practice use for its parts.
The method has a name
This review is a multivocal literature review (MLR), built like the presentations topic: formal and grey sources in one pool, grey sources scored out of 20 (method). How the pool was built is in protocol; each source and its score are in sources.
Terms
- A figure is any drawn picture in a document: a chart, a diagram, a schematic.
- A node-link diagram is a figure of boxes (nodes) joined by lines (links).
- Text art is a diagram typed from characters, such as box-drawing characters and arrows in a code block.
- A text alternative is the text that stands for a figure for a reader who cannot see it: a short one, and a long one for a complex figure.
The problem in one sentence
In any document, a figure should be read fast and right, be reached without sight, and be trusted.
What the fields call its parts
| Part of the problem | Field | Name searched |
|---|---|---|
| Where boxes and lines go | graph drawing, information visualisation | graph drawing aesthetics, edge crossings, crossing angle, flow direction |
| How a quantity or a kind is shown | perception, statistics | graphical perception, visual channels, Gestalt grouping, common region |
| Whether looks matter | human-computer interaction, visualisation | aesthetic-usability effect, chart embellishment, chartjunk, memorability |
| Reaching a figure without sight | accessibility | non-text content, text alternatives, long description, non-text contrast |
| Drawing from a source file | software documentation | diagrams as code: Mermaid, Graphviz, PlantUML |
| What practice does | journalism, scientific publishing, public institutions | figure style guides, data-ink, "ten simple rules" |
Questions
- Q11a Layout: which layout properties of a node-link diagram change comprehension?
- Q11b Encoding and grouping: rankings of visual channels, Gestalt grouping, hierarchy.
- Q11c Appeal: does visual appeal change what a reader understands, remembers or trusts?
- Q11d Text art against drawn diagrams: accessibility, text alternatives, diagrams as code, reading by a language model.
- Q11e Practice: figure style guides, the data-ink rule and its critics.
- Q11f Against: where practice and evidence disagree.
The questions keep the number 11 because they continue the ten questions of the presentations topic; one label names one question across both.