A survey on Information Visualization in light of Vision and Cognitive sciences

TL;DR

This survey reviews how vision and cognition influence Information Visualization, proposing a simplified theoretical framework called Visual Expression Process to aid understanding and design.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive theoretical compilation of vision, cognition, and InfoVis, supported by literature, and offers reflections on visual-cognitive aspects for better visualization design.

Findings

Provides a unified theoretical framework for visualization understanding

Discusses cognitive and perceptual factors affecting visualization effectiveness

Offers insights to improve visualization design and user interaction

Abstract

Information Visualization techniques are built on a context with many factors related to both vision and cognition, making it difficult to draw a clear picture of how data visually turns into comprehension. In the intent of promoting a better picture, here, we survey concepts on vision, cognition, and Information Visualization organized in a theorization named Visual Expression Process. Our theorization organizes the basis of visualization techniques with a reduced level of complexity; still, it is complete enough to foster discussions related to design and analytical tasks. Our work introduces the following contributions: (1) a Theoretical compilation of vision, cognition, and Information Visualization; (2) Discussions supported by vast literature; and (3) Reflections on visual-cognitive aspects concerning use and design. We expect our contributions will provide further clarification about how users and designers think about InfoVis, leveraging the potential of systems and techniques.