Automating the design of graphical presentations of relational information

TLDR

The paper addresses two key challenges: codifying graphic design criteria for automated tools and generating diverse designs to accommodate varied information. The study aims to create an application‑independent tool that automatically generates effective graphical presentations of relational data. The authors model graphical presentations as sentences in graphical languages, codifying expressiveness and effectiveness criteria, and use a composition algebra of primitive languages to systematically generate diverse designs. Using AI, they implemented a prototype tool, APT, that applies the composition algebra and design criteria to produce automated graphical presentations.

Abstract

The goal of the research described in this paper is to develop an application-independent presentation tool that automatically designs effective graphical presentations (such as bar charts, scatter plots, and connected graphs) of relational information. Two problems are raised by this goal: The codification of graphic design criteria in a form that can be used by the presentation tool, and the generation of a wide variety of designs so that the presentation tool can accommodate a wide variety of information. The approach described in this paper is based on the view that graphical presentations are sentences of graphical languages. The graphic design issues are codified as expressiveness and effectiveness criteria for graphical languages. Expressiveness criteria determine whether a graphical language can express the desired information. Effectiveness criteria determine whether a graphical language exploits the capabilities of the output medium and the human visual system. A wide variety of designs can be systematically generated by using a composition algebra that composes a small set of primitive graphical languages. Artificial intelligence techniques are used to implement a prototype presentation tool called APT (A Presentation Tool), which is based on the composition algebra and the graphic design criteria.