Visuals and Graphical Communication

Innovative design of new products proceeds by way of cognitive processes of analysis, critical thinking, creativity, conceptualization, cognitive modeling, synthesis, prototyping, and evaluation. Design phases invariably consist of divergence, transformation, and convergence operations. Designing is a creative faculty of the mind, akin to the conceptual faculty of learning arts, sciences, and languages. The author dwells briefly on cognitive, graphical communication, morphological, philosophical, and psychological aspects of design, together with educational imperatives, and proposes that designing new products requires the same cognitive processes regardless of their size, shape, and complexity.The author has drawn upon his own experience of designing a variety of things and has quoted references to design of household artifacts, office equipment, and industrial products. Reference is made to the ‘Design and Technology’ subject being taught at junior and senior secondary schools in Botswana and elsewhere. Examples are also drawn from some recent world-class designs. These establish the belief that human design cognition is the same for all products, small or large.

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Sketchpad a man-machine graphical communication system

Papers on Twenty-five years of electronic design automation - 25 years of DAC ◽

10.1145/62882.62943 ◽

1988 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

I. E. Sutherland

Keyword(s):

Communication System ◽

Graphical Communication

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A Modified Flood Severity Assessment for Enhanced Decision Support: Application to the Boscastle Flash Flood of 2004

Weather and Forecasting ◽

10.1175/waf-d-12-00033.1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 1290-1297 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

S. J. Murray ◽

A. D. Smith ◽

J. C. Phillips

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Flash Flood ◽

Decision Support Tool ◽

Severity Assessment ◽

Parameter Uncertainties ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

Support Tool ◽

Severity Rating ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Graphical Communication

Abstract A modified flash flood severity assessment is presented, based on scoring a set of factors according to their potential for generating extreme catchment-scale flooding. Improvements are made to the index through incorporation of parameter uncertainties, managing data absence, and clearer graphical communication. The motive for proposing these changes is to better inform flood managers during the development of a flash flood that may require an emergency response. This modified decision-support system is demonstrated for the Boscastle flood of 2004 and other historical floods in the United Kingdom. For Boscastle, the extreme nature of the flood is underestimated, which is likely to be due to the lack of sophistication in weighting flood parameters. However, the proposed amendments are able to rapidly reflect the reliability of a catchment severity rating, which may further enhance this technique as a decision-support tool alongside radar observations of localized storms.

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