Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2015

Information Graphics and Intuition: Heuristics as a Techne for Visualization

John Jones

Abstract

Professional communication scholars have critiqued the idea that visual styles derived from cognitive theories of human perception can be universally understood by all people and thus effective in all rhetorical situations. Cognitive heuristics, or mental shortcuts that influence how individuals make decisions, provide a framework for reconciling the perceptual features of visualizations with the cultural and contextual features of particular rhetorical situations. This article analyzes information graphics using the heuristics of representativeness, availability, and affect, applying this analysis to a techne of visual design that accounts for both intuitive and contextual reasoning.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2015-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651915573943
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Topics
modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism professional writing affect and writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

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    Visualizing Heat Risk: Infographics, Memorability, and Design
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
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  3. Campbell (2023)
    Identifying Digital Rhetoric in the Telemedicine User Interface
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  4. Li (2022)
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  5. Strantz (2021)
    Using Web Standards to Design Accessible Data Visualizations in Professional Co…
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  1. Li (2020)
    Visualizing Chinese Immigrants in theU.S. Statistical Atlases: A Case Study in …
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  2. Applen et al. (2018)
    Digital humanities, middleware, and user experience design for public health ap…
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CrossRef global citation count: 21 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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