Information Visualization: Perception for Design

by Colin Ware

Information Visualization: Perception for Design, Fourth Edition explores the art and science of why we see objects the way we do. Based on the science of perception and vision, the author presents the key principles at work for a wide range of applications--resulting in visualization of improved clarity, utility and persuasiveness. This new edition has been revised and updated to include the latest relevant research findings. Content has been updated in areas such as the cognitive neuroscience of maps and navigation, the neuroscience of pattern perception, and the hierarchy of learned patterns.

New changes to the book make it easier to apply perceptual lessons to design decisions. In addition, the book offers practical guidelines that can be applied by anyone, including interaction designers and graphic designers of all kinds.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Science, Reference, Business, Research, Technical

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Eric Foll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't go into this book thinking it'll be a light read. It's definitely a textbook, but a very easy-to-read one. Dense, yes. But understandable and relevant. If your job entails displaying information visually, this would be time well spent. While it does tend to favor the process of visualizations through computer graphics, most of the concepts are either directly applicable to the printed page or easily understood in that manner.

[Kornelis Sietsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very wide ranging and detailed - this book covers the whole gamut from how our eyes and visual systems and brains process images, right through to the implications for how we can visualise information in computer systems most effectively.

As a non-expert in this field I found this a dense but really rewarding read - especially as it kept surprising me with new ideas and information about how we see the world! There were too many "wow, really?" moments for me to easily remember.

For instance, I had no idea that as well as colour blind people, there are a very small number of people who have four distinct colour cones in their eyes, allowing them to distinguish more colours than the vast majority who have three.

Just a note for readers - this is a foundational text - it lays a groundwork of information, I found it fascinating but it's less of a how-to guide than a "why you should approach visualisation in these ways" guide. I'm giving it five stars for how well it accomplishes it's aims - but it might not be the book for you if you just want to jump in and build data visualisations, or if you want a light easy read!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every person that does anything with design, or computers, or communication, or graphics, or art should read this book. It is astounding in its excellent summaries and discussions of the key issues. If you only read one book, this is enough. But if not, it also provides you with plenty of jumping off points to refer to further studies.

Only 11 reviews??

[Manuel Frias · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because of the good feedback it got from authors I admire. I don't regret it but I should have noticed that it is a scientific academic textbook. Nothing wrong with that but it's not an easy read for novices in the science of visualization like me.

This is anyway a good book to find scientific explanations to perception and cognitive visualization problems.

[nylki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good read and overview if you are interested in the visual perception of humans and interpretation of symbols.
Also a nice addition, if you are researching on visual analytics and visualization.

[Dejan Ulcej · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book covers the information visualization very comprehensively, with an emphasis on the cognitive psychology. Dr. Ware supports the theory very well with interesting and relevant research studies (in 2013 version few examples that talk about HCI experiments are out-dated and are hardly relevant today). Despite the fact that the book covers everything one must know about information visualization, the structure of the book is complex. Reader needs to have at least very basic understanding of cognitive psychology, otherwise the content might be too hard to comprehend. I wouldn't recommend it for the beginners in information visualization field, but it definitely is a must read for everyone that wants to understand relevant theory of interdisciplinary field of information visualization.

[Hugo Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scientifically-rigorous and practical!

[Tore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview, nice (and well-motivated) list of principles. I learned a lot about information visualization and human visual perception.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

academic dry text, ware throws in anything he could copy from other books, including diagrams of the eye and the optical nerve.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's good reason why people don't read textbooks cover to cover... And this is an incredibly well-researched and detailed textbook looking at the science behind information visualization. Lots of best-practice advice and plenty of detailed explanations. A little too dry and dispassionate for my tastes, but probably right on target for hardcore academics.

[Rob Greca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great textbook on information visualization.

[Leo Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

dense, but useful. one of the go-to viz books.

[Fabian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference for designing perceptually effective data visualization and User Interfaces. The chapter on perception of space will also be extremely valuable for people working on Virtual Reality.