[open-visualisation] Fwd: Talk by Alan Blackwell: Designing Visual Representations that People can Use

Tue Feb 17 13:41:59 UTC 2009

For anyone based in or around Cambridge, UK - this looks interesting!

J.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear colleagues,

I would like to invite you to a talk by Dr Alan Blackwell, a Reader in
Interdisciplinary Design from the Computer Laboratory at Cambridge
University. He will be talking about "Designing Visual Representations
that People can Use" and his talk should be interesting to anyone who has
to represent data visually and want to learn more about the process of
developing such representations.

Time: Friday, February 20th, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm
Location: C202/203 (around the corner from the DiNA)

Abstract: Visualisations can be extremely effective for expressing and
manipulating complex scientific data. But inventing new visualisations for
use on computers is much harder than it seems. Doing it well seems to
require not only understanding of the core science, but applied psychology
of perception, philosophy of language, and skill in graphic design and
education. This talk will review the most effective approaches, with an
emphasis on techniques that work well in practice, rather than those of
purely theoretical interest.

Alan Blackwell has been working on design of new visual notations for 25
years, in industrial, research and academic applications. He is now
responsible for teaching the design and human-computer interaction syllabi
in the Computer Laboratory. He did his PhD on human interpretation of
diagrams at the MRC Applied Psychology Unit, and has founded and
co-organised international conference series on diagrammatic
representation, visual languages, and human-computer interaction.

Best,
Nils