Social Visualization Patterns

People need to attach visual meaning and identity to a visualization so that it can exist within an object centered social space and its meaning can be quickly transferred to others.

Use when

Creating a visualization within a social space for the purposes of attaching an identity and communicating the meaning of the object in a visual way.

Solution

Let people integrate imagery and other media into their visualization to better communicate that visualization’s relevance and context.

Swivel queries Flickr with the chosen title of the visualization to provide images that can be used as a background for the visualization

Why

Decorating a visual representation provides it with an identity in much the same way that an avatar provides a user with an identity within a social network. This provides extra information about the visualization to other users, and contextualizes its place within a social space. In turn, this objectifies the visualization and allows it to exist on its own within the social environment.

It also reduces the cognitive load on other users, and allows the inherent meaning in the visualization to be communicated and consequently transferred to the community with greater ease.

How

Integrate with the search APIs of user generated content communities to access images and media that relate to the content of the visualization.

Issues

Assigning absolute meaning to media can be tricky, and often fails to communicate effectively across different cultures. People can ‘read’ images and media very differently.

Related patterns

• Illustrated choices