Colin Ware

Colin Ware directs a Data Visualization Research Lab at the University of New Hampshire. His education is broad and interesting: He holds degrees both in computer science and the psychology of perception. He is a (the?) leading expert on integrating neuroscience and psychology with computer graphics.

Most computer graphics books teach how to make things that look cool. This book takes a different tact and discusses why things look cool in terms of the brain’s structure. Should you read this show more book, be ready for a heavy dose of neuroanatomy, cognition, and perception! It leaves its readers ready not just to make cool graphics but to address their graphics’ viewers “visual thinking.” In other words, it takes graphics to a psychological level.

This work is more accessible than Ware’s other textbook Information Visualization and could serve as a fitting tutorial towards a broader audience. Being a tome of basic research, this book addresses an audience as wide as it is varied. Graphic designers, scientists of visualization, psychologists of learning, and informaticians (like myself) can all glean insights into their craft from this work. Indeed, anyone who presents information that combines word and image can benefit – especially those using electronic images like PowerPoint slide decks. Also, it clarifies the pathways and processes by which humans gain knowledge from visual images. I find this stuff extraordinarily fascinating and am glad that Ware has spent time mastering these disciplines. show less

Strongest on the sections describing the anatomy, neuroscience, and psychology of visual perception and cognition. Would like to have seen more case studies on successful and unsuccessful designs.

Disappointingly blah graphic design and typography for the book itself, though that fault probably lies with the publisher. Unlike a Tufte book, it will not double as a work of art.

Visual Thinking for Design – Colin Ware

Fascinating book on the science of vision and how it pertains to making graphics more quickly and easily grasped. I found the language rather academic and obfuscating, which was rather surprising considering the subject matter. There were a handful of proof reading errors.

The ending became rather familiar in that the author appears to hold the same opinion as Kurweil – albeit in a roundabout way – that man’s intelligence is favorably enhance show more with technology.

Quotes;

“Good design is not about pictures versus words. The real issues are as follows. When are images most effective? When are words and other formal symbols most effective? If both images and words are used, how should they be combined?”

It seems to me that there are many uses of slides and this only addresses the time when they are used in a presentation. And hasn’t Ware heard of incremental reveal? Certainly the bullets could be pulled up after the point is made.

“PowerPoint slides are often poorly designed. In many cases people put far too many words on the slides, causing the viewer to read the slides rather than listen to the presenter. Words that match what the speaker is saying can be the worst of all. People will often read ahead and then mentally wander off as the speaker catches up. It is also a common mistake for the slide to contain a set of section “bullets” listing the main points. Generally these belong in the speaker’s notes, not on the screen. They also have the effect of weakening narrative tension because the viewer will look ahead and reason about the conclusion bullet long before the speaker gets there.”

“Computer-based cognitive tools are developing with great speed in human society, far faster than the human brain can evolve. Any routine cognitive task that can be precisely described can be programmed and executed on a computer, or on millions of computers.”

“Ultimately the science of perception must take design into account because the designed world is changing people’s thinking patterns. Real world cognition increasingly involves computer-based cognitive tools that are designed to support one mode of thinking or another. This cognitive support environment is developing and evolving from year to year in a process that is happening much faster than evolution. Designed tools can change how people think.” show less

Look at this book, and at Tufte and Berges' books to refresh your seeing.