Towards a language for talking about information visualization aimed at presentation on the Web

Considering variety, quantity and quality of information presentations and representations on the Web two research directions emerge for us: the first one has to do with foundations of visual literacy, development of visual languages that will facilitate visual reasoning in more general setting than in problem solving and the other one has to do with the complexity of design process itself. These two directions are not separate, as visual reasoning is a fundamental attribute of design, it is a functionality inherent in visual representations, but has to be rendered by design. This implies a need for design principles whereby visual reasoning can be built into a visual representation, which in turn requires the identification of these sound design principles and a language for talking about them. In this study, we define some of the basic concepts like visual immediacy, visual impetus and visual impedance that may form the basis of the necessary vocabulary. We then discuss types of visual reasoning, extending the goal of visual reasoning from problem solving alone to a more generic goal that includes the kind of reasoning involved in visual metaphors, visual analogies, and visual associations, which all act as organizers of thinking. We then proceed towards trying to summarize, systematize and add new principles and guidelines towards better presentation of information for the Web.