Visual Design
Ruth Malan
@ruthmalan

“we put our thoughts into the
world”
— Barbara Tversky
<Emergency
Appeal to Authority>

How is design like
a comic?
VISUAL
DESIGN

How is design like
this comic?
buttercupfestival.com/2-91.htm
It imagines
something new into
the world…
… that
enters the world
and changes it

How is design like
this comic?
buttercupfestival.com/2-116.htm
We explore the
unseen beneath
the surface, go to
the roots (and don’t
think of roots as
linear causes, but
rhizomatic and
interconnected)

How is design like
this comic?
buttercupfestival.com/2-118.htm
We explore what if,
and what then and
what else?

How is design like
a comic?
VISUAL
DESIGN
• world creation

How is design like
a comic?
VISUAL
DESIGN
• world creation

How is design like
a comic?
VISUAL
DESIGN
• world creation
• dismissed
X

Undervalued/Dismissed
Stereotyped as
For children, juvenile, ..
Not “the real deal”
Not …“literature”…

Undervalued/Dismissed
Stereotyped as
For children, juvenile, ..
Not “the real deal”
Not …“literature”…
MisUnderstanding Comics

Undervalued/Dismissed
BDUF?!
MisUnderstanding Design

Undervalued/Dismissed
“Scott McCloud’s Understanding
Comics is a powerful piece of
polemic. It is also a work of
theory”
— Dylan Horrocks
MisUnderstanding Comics
X

reConsider
“Of course, all theory is to some
extent polemic; theory is about
persuading others to think about
things in a certain way”
— Dylan Horrocks
Understanding Comics

How is design like
a comic?
buttercupfestival.com/2-31.htm
I don’t get it/see
something different…

“It is hard to overestimate the significance
of putting thought in the world.”
“it allows us to share thoughts with others,
critical for learning, teaching, coordinating
and collaborating”
— Barbara Tversky
Thoughts in the
World

“That's all the motorcycle is, a
system of concepts worked out in
steel. There's no part in it, no
shape in it, that is not out of
someone's mind.”
— Robert M. Pirsig
Thoughts in the
World

TECHNICAL
LEADERSHIP
Programming as Theory Building

Programming as Theory Building

TECHNICAL
LEADERSHIP
Programming as Theory Building

TECHNICAL
LEADERSHIP
Programming as Theory Building
1985

Theory We Hold in Mind

How Do We Build Better Theories?
MisUnderstanding Design
X
Exploration of visual
communication in
comics

Thinking
with the World
“Drawing [..] is a means of
orchestrating a
conversation with yourself”
— Nick Sousanis
From Unflattening
by Nick Sousanis

“Our stereoscopic vision is the
creation and integration of two
views. [..] It is this displacement
that allows us to perceive depth.”
— Nick Sousanis
Integration of Views
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Shift in Perspective
“Nothing changed, except
the point of view — which
changed everything.”
— Nick Sousanis
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Dialog Across
“Consider instead,
distinct vantage points
Separate paths
Joined in dialog
Thus, not merely side-by-side
They intersect,
engage,
interact,
combine,
and inform one another.
As the coming together of two eyes in stereoscopic vision
Outlooks held in mutual orbits,
Coupled, their interplay and overlap, facilitate the emergence
of new perspectives.
Actively interweaving multiple strands of thought
Creates common ground”
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Rhizomatic
We use different perspectives to transcend and see the
connectedness that is otherwise obscured
“this expansive way of seeing corresponds to an
understanding of ecosystems … which despite visual
boundaries, remain rhizomatically bound”
—
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Span Gaps
“Both binding agent and action,
imagination allows us to span
gaps in perception.”
— Nick Sousanis
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Synthesis of Views
‘Expanding our understanding
requires divergence of thought
and diversity of thinkers.’
— Nick Sousanis
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Cognitive Assist
By reigniting our interest
in, and practicing, visual
design, we give ourselves a
perceptual, cognitive and
collaborative assist
From Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

“thoughts put in the world become thinking
tools. A spiral: we put thought in the world,
use it, revise it, use it again. [..]
To remember, remind, and record.
To inform, to influence
— Barbara Tversky
Become Tools to Think (Together)

“To contemplate,
compare, organize,
rearrange, design, and
create.
To show others and
collaborate.”
— Barbara Tversky
From Unflattening
by Nick Sousanis

Joined in Dialog, they engage, interact
they create common ground

Unflattening Design
• From Multiple
Perspectives
• Shift Perspective
• Focus, and
• Dialog Across
• Rhizomatic
• Span Gaps
• Synthesis of Views

We’re weaving strands of
inquiry
• Visual
• Design
• Systems
Where Are We?
Visual
Design of
Systems

Sketching and Modeling
VISUAL
DESIGN
We sketch, draw diagrams,
model to:
Sketch by Dave Gray

Sketching and Modeling
VISUAL
DESIGN
to deal with buffer overflow!
to create a shared thought space
to explain, to defend, to preserve
to probe, to run thought experiments
to see, to understand existing
To observe, to understand*
To think, reason, abstract – to design*
To think together, collaborate
To explore, to test
To document to communicate*
* “Let’s go to the Whiteboard,” by Mauro Cherubini et al
Sketch by
Dave Gray

Why Designers Use Diagrams
• To share: Diagrams externalize internal thought making it
visible to self and others, reifying the mental model for
others to act upon.
• To ground: Human communication embeds ambiguous
interpretations that need to be clarified in conversations:
diagrams can serve this purpose.
• To manipulate: By externalizing a mental model in a drawing,
part of the cognitive process needed to hold it in memory is
relieved and other operations can take place, like joining
different parts, evaluating the design, checking the
consistency, etc. Once externalized, these phases can happen
collaboratively, capturing joint attention and enabling
gesturing.
• To brainstorm: Ambiguity in sketches is a source of creativity.
Unintended interpretations and ideas can arise when
inspecting an initial arrangement of a sketch.

Sketching and Modeling
Load understanding into our
heads — what is, and what
ought to be.
We have bounded cognitive
capacity, so we collaborate
So we need to create common
ground/shared understanding
Image source: Dave Gray
VISUAL
DESIGN

1995
Put Thought into the World text too

Put Thought into the World

Put Thought into the World
Image source: Mind in Motion talk, by Barbara Tversky (on youtube)

Let’s Try This
• Consider the following problem
– One morning, exactly at 8 A.M., a monk began to climb a tall mountain.
The narrow path, no more than a foot or two wide, spiraled around the
mountain to a glittering temple at the summit. The monk ascended the
path at varying rates of speed, stopping many times along the way to
rest and to eat the dried fruit he carried with him. He reached the
temple precisely at 8 P.M.
The next day, he began his journey back along the same path, starting at
8A.M. and again walking at varying speeds with many pauses along the
way. He reached the bottom at precisely 8 P.M.
– I assert that there is at least one spot along the path the monk occupied
at precisely the same time of day on both trips.
– Is my assertion true? How do you decide?
Source: Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim
SOFTWARE
ARCHITECTURE

One Approach
Image: Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim

System
“The defining properties of
any system, are properties
of the whole, which none of
the parts have. If you take
the system apart, it loses its
essential properties”
— Russell Ackoff
VISUAL
DESIGN

Boundaries
“In order to be recognisable as such, a system
must be bounded in some way.”
“Weoftenfallintothetrapof thinking of a
boundary as something that separates one thing
from another. We should ratherthinkofa
boundaryassomethingthatconstitutesthatwhich
isbounded.”
—PaulCilliers
Image: from Tom Rosenthal’s Watermelon music video 
Andthisis“fractal”:systemsaresubsystemsofother
systems;systemshavesubsystems

Design: System (Inside)
System
Architecture
Structure and
mechanisms
Systemelementsandrelationships
• (de)composition
• isthiscomponentdifferentiating(keep
internal)?ordoweneedtosupportan
externalinteraction?
Systembehaviorsandproperties
• interactionsgiverisetocapabilitiesand
properties(emergence)
Whymodel?Codeputsthoughtsintheworld,but
eventhatgetstoobig!Toreasonacrossthesystem. To
reasonaboutinteractions.Toreasontogether.

Recall: Theory Building
System-in-Context
(use, dev, ops)
Product Design
Design of system
capabilities/properties
Architecture
Structure and
mechanisms
System
Developing
our theory of
the problem
Developing
our theory of
the solution

Communicating the Decision

Design in Context
“Alwaysdesignathing by
considering itinitsnext
largercontext.”
—ElielSaarinen
VISUAL
DESIGN

Design: System in Context
System-in-Context
(use, dev, ops)
Product Design
Design of system
capabilities/properties
Architecture
Structure and
mechanisms
• Whatisthesystemusedfor(purpose
andidentity)?
• Whichcapabilitiesarewegoingto
moveacrossthesystemboundary?
• Whatnewcapabilitiesarewegoingto
bringintoexistence?
• Howisthesystembeingadapted(and
exapted)tonewuses?
Systembehaviorsandproperties
• impact(users,partners,operations)
experience
System

Ecosystem Context
Context System-in-Context
(use, dev, ops)
System
(Ecosystem)
Strategy
Ecosystem
interventions
“Requirements"
Design of system
capabilities
Architecture
Structure and
mechanisms
product design technical design

Design Across Boundaries
Context System-in-Context
(use, dev, ops)
System
(Ecosystem)
Strategy
Ecosystem
interventions
“Requirements"
Design of system
capabilities
Architecture
Structure and
mechanisms
internal design: parts
and interactions;
theory of operation
product design technical design
capabilities and
properties; theory of
value
Identity and direction;
theory of
differentiation and
role in ecosystem

Design Across Boundaries
Context System-in-Context
(use, dev, ops)
System
(Ecosystem)
Strategy
Ecosystem
interventions
“Requirements"
Design of system
capabilities
Architecture
Structure and
mechanisms
System design is
contextual design — it
is inherently about
boundaries (what’s in,
what’s out, what
spans, what moves
between), and about
tradeoffs. It reshapes
what is outside, just
as it shapes what is
inside.
internal design: parts
and interactions;
theory of operation
product design technical design
capabilities and
properties; theory of
value
Identity and direction;
theory of
differentiation and
role in ecosystem

Modeling Complex Systems

Sociotechnical Systems
Sociotechnical systems
refers to systems that have
social and technical
elements, and there is
mutual influence and
interaction of technical and
social elements

How Complex Systems Fail
1. Complex systems are intrinsically hazardous systems
2. Complex systems are heavily and successfully
defended against failure
3. Catastrophe requires multiple failures – single point
failures are not enough
4. Complex systems contain changing mixtures of
failures latent within them
6. Catastrophe is always just around the corner
16. Safety is a characteristic of systems and not of their
components: Safety is an emergent property of systems
-- Richard I. Cook
Source: Richard I. Cook, How Complex Systems Fail

How Complex Systems Fail
1. Complex systems are intrinsically hazardous systems
2. Complex systems are heavily and successfully
defended against failure
3. Catastrophe requires multiple failures – single point
failures are not enough
4. Complex systems contain changing mixtures of
failures latent within them
6. Catastrophe is always just around the corner
16. Safety is a characteristic of systems and not of their
components: Safety is an emergent property of systems

Modeling Complex Systems
It’s a lot! To grasp.
Still, choose (how much, which views, ..) wisely
Diana Montalion’s heuristic equation:
Wisdom = f(knowledge, experience, good judgment)
VISUAL
DESIGN

TECHNICAL
LEADERSHIP
System Integrity
“A system is an
interconnected set of
elements that is coherently
organized in a way that
achieves something”
— Donella Meadows

Requisite Coherence
“And requisite coherence is the
idea that if everyone is in a Tower
of Babel we’re not able to speak
or work together. So the balancing
point here is common ground.”
— Jabe Bloom
“Joint activity depends on interpredictability of the participants’ attitudes and actions. Such
interpredictability is based on common ground” – Gary Klein

Common Ground we create …
“requires continuing effort
to sustain, extend, and
repair common ground.”
— Richard Cook
Image from: Unflattening, by Nick Sousanis
VISUAL
DESIGN

Design
“the designer, is concerned
with how things ought to be -
how they ought to be in order
to attain goals, and to
function.”
— Herbert Simon
VISUAL
DESIGN

Making Sense of Complex Systems
What is (description; depiction; ..)
What could be (exploration; intention)
Structure: parts and relationships;
boundaries; parts and wholes; ..
Behavior: interactions; feedback
(self-regulating or balancing;
amplifying or reinforcing; ..);
dynamics
Scope: system (internals); (system in)
context; ecosystem
Time frame: duration (transaction;
evolution); past, present, or future; ..
Image adapted Leonardo polyhedra, wiki commons

Unflattening Design
• From Multiple
Perspectives
• Shift Perspective
• Focus, and
• Dialog Across
• Rhizomatic
• Span Gaps
• Synthesis of Views

Stay in Touch
Ruth Malan:
Twitter: @ruthmalan
Web: ruthmalan.com
Web: bredemeyer.com
Bredemeyer Consulting