March 7, 2007

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Level: Introductory/All Levels

We all use mental maps of how our world is organized to accomplish everyday tasks from opening doors, stopping at traffic lights, reading a newspaper to adjusting the water temperature in the shower. They define our sense of how things should be. If we lay out data models with an understanding of the these maps, we make it easier for our audience to see what we want to communicate.

Mental maps are simple to understand and identify once we realize they are there. But they are also very powerful in their effect. We will explore visual maps and how they translate into simple layout guidelines. Some of the maps we will cover are:

• time lines put the early events on the left
• hierarchies go from general at the top to specific at the bottom
• white space identifies clusters of related objects
• short lines are easier to follow
• repeating patterns identify similar concepts

Darlene Saric has thirty years experience in data modeling across many DBMSs and platforms, a background in cognitive psychology and another career as a professional artist with gallery representation. This gives her a unique insight into visual communication.