ABSTRACT
Visual notations form an integral part of the language of software engineering (SE). Yet historically, SE researchers and notation designers have ignored or undervalued issues of visual representation. In evaluating and comparing notations, details of visual syntax are rarely discussed. In designing notations, the majority of effort is spent on semantics, with graphical conventions often an afterthought. Typically no design rationale, scientific or otherwise, is provided for visual representation choices. While SE has developed mature methods for evaluating and designing semantics, it lacks equivalent methods for visual syntax. This tutorial defines a set of principles for designing cognitively effective visual notations: ones that are optimised for human communication and problem solving. Together these form a design theory, called the Physics of Notations as it focuses on the physical (perceptual) properties of notations rather than their logical (semantic) properties. The principles were synthesised from theory and empirical evidence from a wide range of fields and rest on an explicit theory of how visual notations communicate. They can be used to evaluate, compare and improve existing visual notations as well as to construct new ones. The tutorial identifies serious design flaws in some of the leading SE notations together with practical suggestions for improving them. It also showcases some examples of visual notation design excellence from SE and other fields.
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- Moody, D. L., P. Heymans, and R. Matulevicius, Visual Syntax Does Matter: Improving the Cognitive Effectiveness of the i* Visual Notation. Requirements Engineering Journal, 2010. (forthcoming). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Moody, D. L. and J. van Hillegersberg. Evaluating the Visual Syntax of UML: An Analysis of the Cognitive Effectiveness of the UML Suite of Diagrams. in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Software Language Engineering (SLE2008). 2008. Toulouse, France: Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- The "physics" of notations: a scientific approach to designing visual notations in software engineering
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