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Visual Communication:
Rich Pictures, Mind Maps and Schemas
Phil Robinson
LonsdaleSystems.com
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2.
Drowning in a Deluge of Words
• Internet
– 3.6 billion web pages
– 89 billion emails sent each day
• Print
– 130 million books currently exist
– 15 million new books published per year
– 395 million newspapers each day
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3.
The Education System
• Schools still emphasise the three R’s
– Reading
– Writing
– ‘Rithmetic
• They assume pupils already know how to
listen and talk
• Drawing is something you are either “good
at” or not!
• Collaboration is called “cheating”
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4.
The Business World
• In the past industry needed clerks…
– Reading
– Writing
– ‘Rithmetic
• Now the business world needs collaboration…
– Listening
– Talking
– Drawing
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5.
Rich Pictures
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6.
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7.
Common Cave Painting Themes Across the World
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8.
Mayan
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian
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9.
Fast Forward to 2013…
The “Box and Arrow” Diagram!
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10.
Fast Forward to 2013…
The “Box and Arrow” Diagram!
Setup
Marshalling
Staging
Spooler
Transform
Teardown
De-spooler
More “stone-age
thinking required!!
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11.
Rich
Pictures
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12.
Building a Visual Vocabulary
Organisations
People
Measures
Rules
Records
Activities
Things
Places
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Time
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13.
Taxi Management System
Pickup
Location
Booking Rules
Call Centre
Passenger
Trip
Booking
Taxi
Driver
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Drop Off
Location
Receive
Booking
Dispatch
Taxi
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14.
Mind Maps
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15.
Mind Maps
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Rela
te
topi d
cs
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h
h
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Central
topic
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ir me n
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ar
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gr Top
ou ic
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ng
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16.
Mind Maps
Provide a “Visual Grammar” for Words
l
ua acy
s
Vi t er
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Bu
il
vo vi din
ca su g
bu al a
la
ry
Cla
dia ss
gra
ms
UM
a
n ds
i r
g wo
n
em
ni of The yst
Sc
s
ow e
he
r g
on
D u
ma
s
ti
l
s
ca busines
e du e
d e Th
d
Visual
worl
Communication
e
Cav ngs
pi Ric
i
ct h
int
ps
ur
pa
es
ma
ic s
d
w
glyph
rro
Hiero
in
d a
M
an
Box agrams
di
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17.
Mind Maps
More Compact Than Lists
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Blah
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18.
L
UM
a
n ds
i r
g wo
n
em
ni of The yst
w
Sc
s
he
n
ro ge
D u
io
ma
t
ss
s
el ducae busine
d e Th
d
Visual
worl
Communication
e
Cav ngs
pi Ric
ct h
ti
ps
ur
ain
p
es
ma
phics
ow
rogly
nd
Hie
ar r
Mi
an d ms
Bo x ag ra
di
Bu
il
vo vi din
ca su g
bu al a
la
ry
Cla
dia ss
gra
ms
Easier to See the “Big Picture”
Mind Maps
l
ua acy
s
Vi ter
li
Compared to the written language, visual communication
receives scant attention in the education curriculum.
And yet, as as it begins to feel like we are drowning
in a deluge of words, pictures and diagrams start to
become the better prospect for getting our message
across.
This session explores the role of visual communication
in the business world offering some ideas about how we
can improve our skills and communicate more clearly.
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19.
Mind Maps
Great For Collaboration
al y
su ac
Vi ter
li
Sc
he
ma
s
Visual
Communication
e
Cav ngs
pi Ric
i
ct h
s
int
ur
p
pa
es
ma
ics
glyph
w
nd
Hiero
arro
Mi
nd
a
Box agrams
di
Bu
il
vo vi din
ca su g
bu al a
la
ry
Cla
dia ss
gra
ms
L
UM
a
s
in rd
g wo
n
em
ni of he
st
ow e T n sy
o
Dr ug
i
s
at
l
ines
de educ e bus
Th
d
worl
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20.
Mind Maps
Combine With
Templates
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21.
www.biggerplate.com/philrobinson
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Benefits of Mind Maps
• Navigable
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–
–
–
Topics can be read randomly rather than sequentially
Not necessary to sequence topics
Easier to jump from one topic to the next
Easier to backtrack to a previous topic
• Zoomable
– Presents the “big picture”
– With the ability to “zoom” in on detail
• Holistic
– Topics are can be seen in their context
– Relationship between topics are easily visible
– Encourages insight
• Compact
– More Compact Than Text
– Easier to Restructure and Change
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www.mindmapping.org/VisualThinking-Center.html

24.
Schemas
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25.
Schemas
• Schematic
– Represents the elements of a system using
abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic
pictures
• Symbol
– An object that represents, stands for, or
suggests an idea, visual image, belief, action, or
material entity
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26.
Visual Literacy
• Visual literacy is an
important requirement for
engineers
• In contrast, many IT
professionals are visually
illiterate!
Setup
Marshalling
Spooler
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Staging
Transform
Teardown
De-spooler
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27.
Unified Modelling Language (UML)
«artifact»
Object
Artifact
Package
Class
UML
Metamodel
Use Case
Actor
Node
Component
Visual
Grammar
Visual Vocabulary
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28.
UML Class Diagrams
Table
responsibilities
Provide social organisation
Support objects
constraints
{height >= 50 cm}
{height <= 1.2 m}
{must be stable}
Chair
organises
0..1
organises
1..*
Arranged around
{at any instant in time}
Arranged around
{over time}
responsibilities
Indicate status
0..* Support people
constraints
{height >= 40 cm}
{height <= 85 cm}
0..* {must be stable}
{must be comfortable}
Chairs support people, sometimes indicating the status
of the person sitting in the chair.
Tables support objects and provide social organisation
for the people sitting around the table.
At any instant in time, one or more chairs may be
arranged around a single table.
Over time, a chair may be arranged around any number
of tables.
However, arranging chairs around tables is optional.
…
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29.
http://www.zicomi.com
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30.
Questions
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