Visualization Design

headed by Dr. mat. nat. Christian Kehl

Visualization is more than the technical stages of data processing and their rendered presentation. Interlinked with the technical aspects of visualization are also the conceptual aspects of how to present and map the processed data to graphical representations, and how to design visualizations that are effective for the purpose they aim to serve. The research of visualization design principles, approaches and patterns addresses those conceptual aspects, which is the research domain we are pursuing.

More specifically, we evaluate, extend and shape the basic visualization pipeline to new requirements, such as the integration of interaction or implications from extended realities (XR) applications. Analyzing the visualization pipeline allows us to develop objective evaluation criteria for visualization design, with the goal to spot visualization artifacts early in the design process and help designers to make adequate design choices for their target audience. Those evaluation criteria are rooted in visual perception theory, which we also use to derive new design principles for specific, scientific visualization domains, for example fluid-flow visualization. Together with our domain partners, we employ the design approaches and their evaluation to explore visualization design spaces for dedicated scientific applications.