Visual Anecdote
Name
Offenhuber-2010-Visual Anecdote.pdf
Size
657.71 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b859799688215ca7591564555cc5f49b
Author(s)
Offenhuber, Dietmar
Date Issued
August 2010
Journal
Leonardo
Publisher
MIT Press
Citation
Offenhuber, Dietmar. “Visual Anecdote.” Leonardo 43.4 (2010): 367-374. © 2010 ISAST.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The discourse on information visualization often remains limited to the exploratory function — its potential for discovering patterns in the data. However, visual representations also have a rhetorical function: they demonstrate, persuade, and facilitate communication.
In observing how visualization is used in presentations and discussions, I often notice the use of what could be called “visual anecdotes.” Small narratives are tied to individual data points in the visualization, giving human context to the data and rooting the abstract representation in personal experience. This paper argues that these narratives are more than just illustrations of the dataset; they constitute a central epistemological element of the visualization. By considering these narrative elements as parts of the visualization, its design and knowledge organization appear in a different light.
This paper investigates how the “story” of data representation is delivered. By means of ethnographic interviews and observations, the author highlights the different aspects of the visual anecdote, a specific point where the exploratory and the rhetorical functions of visualization meet.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Architecture and Planning
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1162/LEON_a_00010
