Graphical Tools

Scatterplots and variations

  • Scatterplot [Tufte VDQI]
  • Graph (x-y plot)
    • Variety of scales
    • Variety of grids (polar, triangular, etc.)
    • "Hedgehog" graph (lines show 3d)
  • Box plot, bar chart, histogram, dot-dash plot [Tufte VDQI]
  • Box-and-whisker plot [Tukey EDA]
  • Circle graphs e.g., Boehm spiral model
  • Two-way plot [Tukey EDA, p. 381]
  • Bar chart (time series - organized vertically with time on x axis; qualitative - attribute or spatial - bars horizontal with value on y axis) [Smart and Arnold]
  • Pie chart [Smart and Arnold]
  • Area chart or band chart (area adds up to 100%) [Smart & Arnold]
  • Line diagram (e.g., stock prices)
  • Pictorial chart (e.g., 3-1/2 objects to represent 3500 real ones) [Smart & Arnold]
  • Cartogram (map plot) [Smart & Arnold]; chart-map [Bertin 1983]

Trees

  • Sentence diagram / parse tree. May contain elided subtrees, parallel structures with dotted lines, dependencies among items.
  • Competition tree (e.g., tennis tournament)
  • Von Neumann - game theory - any ideas? Game tree
  • Tree diagram of boards (AI) [GEB]
  • Pedigree (genealogy)

Other Node/Arc Graphs

  • Flow diagram (capacities on nodes or arcs)
  • Finite state machine (specially labeled)
  • Flow chart
  • DAGs in general
  • Concept graph (nodes are concepts, arcs are relationships)
  • Class/object diagram (ala Rumbaugh or Booch)
  • Entity-relationship diagram
  • Data flow diagram
  • Work-flow diagram
  • Electronic circuit
  • Category diagram
  • Feynman diagrams
  • PERT diagram

Maps

The location is important.
  • Map
    2-1/2 D map (looks like a photograph)
  • Weather map
  • Exploded diagram
  • T-diagrams (for self-compiling compilers). [Aho/Sethi/Ullman, p. 726]
  • Geometry diagrams (angles, etc) (Sometimes a map)
  • Data maps [Tufte VDQI]
  • Blueprint
  • Topographical map
  • Level trace (rings of influence based on distance) [Tukey EDA, p. 469]

Abstract Pictures

Actual location isn't important, relationship is.
  • Picture, possibly with annotations, possibly abstract
  • Venn diagram
  • Harel statechart
  • Abstract picture (Not sure how to describe this one). Example: picture of buffer in Aho/Sethi/Ullman "Compilers", p. 91. Box/link diagram? Often used for data structures with pointers.
  • Box diagram e.g., Aho/Sethi/Ullman chapter 7.
  • T-diagrams (for self-compiling compilers). Aho/Sethi/Ullman p. 726.
  • Palette (of tools - ala Macintosh)
  • Bongard problems [GEB]
  • Icons
  • Geometry diagrams (angles, etc)
  • Maze
  • Phillips curve [Tufte VDQI]
  • Chernoff faces [Tufte VDQI]
  • Kiviat Diagrams
  • Dot tallies [Tukey EDA p. 18]

Time-Based Diagrams

  • Musical score
  • Time line
  • Object interaction diagram (sort of a combination timeline and graph)
  • Schedule chart (tracks for difft people, blocks for duration)
  • Gantt chart
  • Timing diagram
  • Multiples / animations [Tufte VDQI]
  • Graph with time on x axis, possibly multiple functions.
  • EEG [Tufte VDQI]
  • Time series graphs [Tufte VDQI]
  • Railroad timetable [Tufte VDQI, Tufte EI]
  • Data maps [Tufte VDQI]
  • Minkowski space-time diagram (??)
  • Seismograph
  • Labanotation [Tufte EI]

Other Techniques

  • Stereoscopic views [Tufte EI]
  • Small multiples of images [Tufte EI]
  • Micro-macro readings [Tufte EI]: multiple levels of detail
  • Layering & separation [Tufte EI]
  • Types of shading & texture ("retinal variables") [Bertin 1983]: size, value (gray scale), texture (variations of fineness & coarseness), color, orientation (of fill pattern), shape (of mark).

Copyright 1994-2010, William C. Wake - William.Wake@acm.org