Visual dimensions of modeling languages in interdisciplinary perspective

Usability of visual modeling languages depends on their visual notations. The visual notations can be viewed as a set of visual components which make specific effects on human's eye and brain. This paper describes an interdisciplinary analysis made in order to enhance understanding of visual dimensions. It extracts visual dimensions from the theories of visual perception, data visualization and mental representations, and discusses their implications for visual notation of modeling languages. Additionally, it discusses the application of kansei engineering for integrating parameters of visual dimensions into notations which make desired impressions.