ABSTRACT
I report on my findings on diagrammatic user interfaces. First, I discuss the essence of diagramming, and present a framework for classifying a great variety of diagramming notations commonplace today. Despite a tremendous variety of usage, in terms of notations and applications, I classify diagrams into six themes: (1) topology, (2) sequence and flow, (3) hierarchy:classification, (4) hierarchy:composition, (5) association, and (6) causality. The framework is largely drawn from my recent book, “Diagrammatic Reasoning in AI" (Wiley, 2010), on which much of this discussion is based.
Second, I present a framework for diagrammatic user interfaces, in which a diagram is intended to be used in a more dynamic way, and hence, can serve as a graphical user interface. I classify such diagrammatic user interfaces along two dimensions: 1) whether the structure is static or dynamic (i.e., can be actively constructed by the end-user) and 2) whether information on the diagram is static or dynamic (i.e., allows for information propagation). While most of the diagrams in use today are static representations, I explore some of these more dynamic and interesting uses, thereby showing how a diagram can transform a rigid black box user interface into one that is transparent, flexible, and easy-to-use.
