Thought Experiments in Design Fiction for Visualization

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel approach using thought experiments in design fiction to explore future visualization scenarios, providing a framework for critical reflection and innovative ideas in visualization research.

Contribution

It conceptualizes and defines a structured method for applying thought experiments in visualization, including a set of ten examples demonstrating their utility.

Findings

Thought experiments can generate valuable critiques in visualization.

The framework encourages speculative and critical thinking in visualization research.

Ten illustrative thought experiments showcase diverse applications.

Abstract

Thought experiments are considered valuable tools in science, enabling the exploration of hypotheses and the examination of complex ideas in a conceptual, non-empirical framework. These thought experiments can be useful in design fiction for speculating future possibilities, examining existing and alternate scenarios in new ways or challenging current paradigms. In visualization, speculating future possibilities or exploring new ways of interpreting existing scenarios can provoke critical reflection and envision novel approaches. In this paper we present such thought experiments for visualization. We conceptualize and define a thought experiment to consist of a situation, a story, and a scenario. Situations are derived from different tools of thought experiments and visualization practice; a story is an AI-generated fiction based on the situation and the scenario is the grounding of the situation and story in visualization research. We present ten such thought experiments and demonstrate their utility in visualization by deriving critiques from them.