信息可视化：感知与设计

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"Information Visualization: Perception for Design" 《信息可视化：感知设计》是信息可视化领域的经典著作，由Colin Ware撰写，第三版在2013年由Morgan Kaufmann（Elsevier的出版印记）发行。这本书深入探讨了如何有效地将复杂数据和信息转化为视觉表示，以提高理解和分析效率。作者通过结合感知心理学和设计原则，为读者提供了理解信息可视化核心概念的框架。信息可视化是一个关键的工具，它利用图形、图表和其他视觉元素来呈现大量数据，使用户能够快速识别模式、趋势和关系。此书的核心主题是人类的感知系统如何处理和解释视觉信息，以及如何利用这些知识来优化信息的可视化设计。书中可能涵盖了以下几个方面： 1. 视觉编码：如何选择合适的视觉表示方法，如颜色、形状、大小和位置，以有效地传达数据特征。 2. 数据密度与信息量：探讨如何在有限的空间内展示大量信息，同时保持清晰度和可读性。 3. 视觉层次结构：如何通过布局和设计引导观众的注意力，突出关键信息，构建信息的层次结构。 4. 视觉对比与色彩理论：如何利用对比和色彩来增强数据的区别和关联，帮助观众快速识别差异和相似性。 5. 交互式可视化：讨论交互设计在信息探索中的作用，以及如何通过交互来提升用户的参与度和理解深度。 6. 视觉注意力机制：研究人类视觉系统的注意力模式，以及如何设计视觉元素以吸引和引导注意力。 7. 数据故事叙述：如何通过可视化构建有说服力的故事，以更好地传达复杂的观点和发现。 8. 人因工程与用户测试：强调设计过程中的用户中心方法，包括理解和适应不同用户群体的视觉能力和认知习惯。这本书对于数据科学家、信息设计师、用户体验设计师、研究人员以及任何需要处理和传达复杂数据的人都具有极高的参考价值。通过学习和应用其中的理论和实践建议，读者可以提高他们的信息可视化能力，创建出更有效、更具洞察力的视觉作品。

Preface

here are two major changes in this latest edition of Information Visualization:

Perception for Design. The first is intended to make the design implications of

research in perception clearer. To this end, 168 explicit guidelines for the design

of visualizations have been added to the text in highlighted boxes. These guidelines

should be taken as suggestions to support design decisions, not as hard and fast rules.

Designing visualizations is a complex task, and it is not possible with a succinct guide-

line to set out all the circumstances under which a particular rule may apply. Graphic

designers must take into account interactions between small symbols and large areas

of color and texture as well as shading effects, shape effects, the grouping of symbols,

and so on. Different tasks may dictate changes in what should be highlighted and

what should be deemphasized. Often a designer must use an existing color scheme

or symbol set, and this also constrains the design problem. Because of this complexity,

it is important to understand the theory behind a guideline before it is applied; under-

standing the mechanisms of perception and the processes of visual thinking can make

it clear when and how that guideline should be applied and when it does not apply.

The second major change is an increased emphasis on the process of visual thinking.

The book now more fully incorporates the modern view that perception is an active

process in which every part of the visual system is retuned several times a second to

meet the needs of the current visual task. The greatest change is a radical reworking

of the final chapter, which now sets out the key components of the architecture of

the visual brain and follows this with a description of ten visual thinking algorithms.

These describe how people think using common visualization tools and techniques.

They are intended to help a designer take a visualization design problem and create

a novel and well-designed visual thinking tool.

In addition to these major changes, the book has been revised and updated through-

out to take recent research into account. Hundreds of new references have been added,

and most of the figures have been redrawn to take advantage of full-color printing.

Now let me tell you how this book came about. In 1973, after I had completed my

master’s degree in the psychology of vision, I was frustrated with the overly focused

academic way of studying perception. Inspired by the legacy of freedom that seemed

to be in the air in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I decided to become an artist and

explore perception in a very different way. But after three years with only very small

success, I returned, chastened, to the academic fold, though with a broader outlook, a

great respect for artists, and a growing interest in the relationship between the way we

present information and the way we see. After obtaining a doctorate in the psychology

of perception at the University of Toronto, I still did not know what to do next.

I moved into computer science, via the University of Waterloo and another degree,

and have been working on data visualization, in one way or another, ever since. In a

way, this book is a direct result of my ongoing attempt to reconcile the scientific study

of perception with the need to convey meaningful information. It is about art in the

sense that “form should follow function,” and it is about science because the science

of perception can tell us what kinds of patterns are most readily perceived.

Why should we be interested in visualization? Because the human visual system is a pat-

tern seeker of enormous power and subtlety. The eye and the visual cortex of the brain

form a massively parallel processor that provides the highest bandwidth channel into

human cognitive centers. At higher levels of processing, perception and cognition are clo-

sely interrelated, which is the reason why the words “understanding” and “seeing” are

synonymous. However, the visual system has its own rules. We can easily see patterns

presented in certain ways, but if they are presented in other ways they become invisible.

Thus, for example, the word goggle, shown in the accompanying figure, is much more

visible in the version shown at the bottom than in the one at the top. This is despite the

fact that identical parts of the letters are visible in each case and in the lower figure there

is more irrelevant “noise” than in the upper figure. The rule that applies here, apparently,

is that when the missing pieces are interpreted as foreground objects then continuity

between the background letter fragments is easier to infer. The more general point is that

when data is presented in certain ways the patterns can be readily perceived. If we can

understand how perception works, our knowledge can be translated into guidelines for

displaying information. Following perception-based rules, we can present our data in

such a way that the important and informative patterns stand out. If we disobey these

rules, our data will be incomprehensible or misleading.

This is a book about what the science of perception can tell us about visualization.

There is a gold mine of information about how we see to be found in more than a cen-

tury of work by vision researchers. The purpose of this book is to extract from that

large body of research literature those design principles that apply to displaying infor-

mation effectively.

Visualization can be approached in many ways. It can be studied in the art-school tra-

dition of graphic design. It can be studied within computer graphics as an area con-

cerned with the algorithms needed to display data. It can be studied as part of

semiotics, the constructivist approach to symbol systems. These are valid approaches,

but a scientific approach based on perception uniquely promises design rules that

transcend the vagaries of design fashion, being based on the relatively stable structure

of the human visual system.

The study of perception by psychologists and neuroscientists has advanced enor-

mously over the past three decades, and it is possible to say a great deal about how

we see that is relevant to data visualization. Unfortunately, much of this information

is stored in highly specialized journals and usually couched in language that is accessi-

ble only to the research scientist. The research literature concerning human perception

is voluminous. Several hundred new papers are published every month, and a surpris-

ing number of them have some application in information display. This information

xvi Preface

can be extremely useful in helping us design better displays, both by avoiding mistakes

and by coming up with original solutions. Information Visualization: Perception for Design

is intended to make this science and its applications available to the nonspecialist. It

should be of interest to anyone concerned with displaying data effectively. It is

designed with a number of audiences in mind: multimedia designers specializing in

visualization, researchers in both industry and academia, and anyone who has a deep

interest in effective information display. The book presents extensive technical informa-

tion about various visual acuities, thresholds, and other basic properties of human

vision. It also contains, where possible, specific guidelines and recommendations.

The book is organized according to bottom-up perceptual principles. The first chapter

provides a general conceptual framework and discusses the theoretical context for a

vision-science-based approach. The next four chapters discuss what can be considered

to be the low-level perceptual elements of vision, color, texture, motion, and elements

of form. These primitives of vision tell us about the design of attention-grabbing fea-

tures and the best ways of coding data so that one object will be distinct from another.

The later chapters move on to discussing what it takes to perceive patterns in data:

first two-dimensional pattern perception, and later three-dimensional space percep-

tion. Visualization design, data space navigation, interaction techniques, and visual

problem solving are all discussed.

Here is a road map to the book: In general, the pattern for each chapter is first to

describe some aspect of human vision and then to apply this information to some pro-

blem in visualization. The first chapters provide a foundation of knowledge on which

the later chapters are built. Nevertheless, it is perfectly reasonable to randomly access

the book to learn about specific topics. When it is needed, missing background infor-

mation can be obtained by consulting the index.

Chapter 1: Foundation for a Science of Data Visualization A conceptual framework

for visualization design is based on human perception. The nature of claims about sen-

sory representations is articulated, with special attention paid to the work of percep-

tion theorist J.J. Gibson. This analysis is used to define the differences between a

design-based approach and an approach based on the science of perception. A classi-

fication of abstract data classes is provided as the basis for mapping data to visual

representations.

Chapter 2: The Environment, Optics, Resolution, and the Display This chapter

deals with the basic inputs to perception. It begins with the physics of light and the

way light interacts with objects in the environment. Central concepts include the struc-

ture of light as it arrives at a viewpoint and the information carried by that light array

about surfaces and objects available for interaction. This chapter goes on to discuss the

basics of visual optics and issues such as how much detail we can resolve. Human

acuity measurements are described and applied to display design.

The applications discussed include design of 3D environments, how many pixels are

needed for visual display systems and how fast they should be updated, requirements

Preface xvii

for virtual-reality display systems, how much detail can be displayed using graphics

and text, and detection of faint targets.

Chapter 3: Lightness, Brightness, Contrast, and Constancy The visual system does

not measure the amount of light in the environment; instead, it measures changes in

light and color. How the brain uses this information to discover properties of the sur-

faces of objects in the environment is presented. This is related to issues in data coding

and setting up display systems.

The applications discussed include integrating the display into a viewing environment,

minimal conditions under which targets will be detected, methods for creating grays-

cales to code data, and errors that occur because of contrast effects.

Chapter 4: Color This chapter introduces the science of color vision, starting with

receptors and trichromacy theory. Color measurement systems and color standards

are presented. The standard equations for the CIE standard and the CIEluv uniform

color space are given. Opponent process theory is introduced and related to the way

data should be displayed using luminance and chrominance.

The applications discussed include color measurement and specification, color selection

interfaces, color coding, pseudocolor sequences for mapping, color reproduction,

and color for multidimensional discrete data.

Chapter 5: Visual Salience and Finding Information A “searchlight” model of

visual attention is introduced to describe the way eye movements are used to sweep

for information. The bulk of the chapter is taken up with a description of the massively

parallel processes whereby the visual image is broken into elements of color, form,

and motion. Preattentive processing theory is applied to critical issues of making

one data object distinct from another. Methods for coding data so it can be percep-

tually integrated or separated are discussed.

The applications discussed include display for rapid comprehension, information coding,

the use of texture for data coding, the design of symbology, and multidimensional dis-

crete data display.

Chapter 6: Static and Moving Patterns This chapter looks at the process whereby

the brain segments the world into regions and finds links, structure, and prototypical

objects. These are converted into a set of design guidelines for information display.

The applications discussed include display of data so that patterns can be perceived,

information layout, node–link diagrams, and layered displays.

Chapter 7: Visual Objects and Data Objects Both image-based and 3D-structure-

based theories of object perception are reviewed. The concept of the object display is

introduced as a method for using visual objects to organize information.

The applications discussed include presenting image data, using 3D structures to orga-

nize information, and the object display.

Chapter 8: Space Perception and the Display of Data in Space Increasingly, informa-

tion display is being done in 3D virtual spaces as opposed to the 2D screen-based layouts.

xviii Preface

The different kinds of spatial cues and the ways we perceive them are introduced. The

latter half of the chapter is taken up with a set of seven spatial tasks and the perceptual

issues associated with each.

The applications discussed include 3D information displays, stereo displays, the choice of

2D versus 3D visualization, 3D graph viewing, and virtual environments.

Chapter 9: Images, Words, and Gestures Visual information and verbal information

are processed in different ways and by different parts of the brain. Each has its own

strengths, and often both should be combined in a presentation. This chapter

addresses when visual and verbal presentation should be used and how the two kinds

of information should be linked.

The applications discussed include integrating images and words, visual programming

languages, and effective diagrams.

Chapter 10: Interacting with Visualizations Major interaction cycles are defined.

Within this framework, low-level data manipulation, dynamic control over data

views, and navigation through data spaces are discussed in turn.

The applications discussed include interacting with data, selection, scrolling, zooming

interfaces, and navigation.

Chapter 11: Visual Thinking Processes This chapter begins by outlining the cogni-

tive system involved in thinking with visualizations. The second half of the chapter

provides ten common visual thinking algorithms that are widely applicable in interac-

tive visualization. These are processes that occur partly in a computer, partly in the

visual brain of the user. The output of the computer is a series of visual images that

are processed through the visual system of the user. The output of the user is a set

of epistemic actions, such as clicking on an object or moving a slider, which result in

the visualization being modified in some way by the computer.

The applications discussed include problem solving with visualization, design of interac-

tive systems, and creativity.

These are exciting times for visualization design. The computer technology used to

produce visualizations has reached a stage at which sophisticated interactive 3D

views of data can be produced on laptop and tablet computers. The trend toward

more and more visual information is accelerating, and there is an explosion of new

visualization techniques being invented to help us cope with our need to analyze

huge and complex bodies of information. This creative phase will not last for long.

With the dawn of a new technology, there is often only a short burst of creative

design before the forces of standardization make what is new into what is conven-

tional. Undoubtedly, many of the visualization techniques that are now emerging will

become routine tools in the near future. Even badly designed things can become

industry standards. Designing for perception can help us avoid such mistakes. If we

can harness the knowledge that has accumulated regarding how perception works,

we can make visualizations become more transparent windows into the world of

information.

Preface xix

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