The Design Space of Information Presentation: Formal Design Space Analysis with FCA and Semiotics

A semiotic approach to the design space of information presentation is presented in which Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is used to represent and explore attributes of abstract sign types and the media (graphical, haptic, acoustic, gestic) through which they are presented as specific representational forms.

Early taxonomies in design have typically been incomplete (in only considering graphics) and inconsistent (in the absence of separation between media and sign types). With digital multimedia and the future semantic web, we need a consistent taxonomy to support component-based flexible (adaptive, tailorable) presentations with a clear separation between (a) the content forms of data, (b) the representational forms through which data is expressed, (c) the combination of media of presentation, and (d) the specific layout within the constraints of the presentation devices and the ergonomic and aesthetic choices of designers and users.