DIS Seminar

Documentographic Information Systems
(Information Retrieval)

Welcome to the website of the regular seminar, dealing with documentographic information systems (Information Retrieval). The workshop is public, once a month on Thursday afternoon at MFF UK, Malostranske nam. 25, Praha 1, in lecture-room S6 at 12.20.

Visual representations form an integral part of the "language" of software engineering. However the design of visual notations remains largely ad hoc and unscientific: a "dark art" that resists explanation even by those who practise it. Decisions about graphical representation are typically made in a subjective manner, without reference to either theory or empirical evidence. Software engineering has developed relatively mature methods for evaluating the semantics of software engineering notations - for example ontological analysis. However we lack a similar foundation for evaluating visual syntax. Currently, in constructing, evaluat-ing and comparing visual notations, we have little to go on but intuition and "rule of thumb". This paper argues that the design of visual notations should be evidence-based: deci-sions about graphical representation should be based on scientific evidence rather than making arbitrary choices based on common sense, experience or personal taste. It also argues that visual syntax and semantics should be given equal attention in the design of software engineering notations as they jointly determine notation effectiveness. The paper defines a set of 7 principles for designing visual notations based on theory and empirical evidence drawn from a wide range of fields. These can be used to construct, evaluate, compare and improve existing visual notations as well as to generate new and innovative visual forms. The paper identifies serious design flaws in some of the leading software engineering notations together with practical suggestions for improving them. It also showcases some examples of visual design excellence from software engineering and other fields.