Translating Data into Images: The Design Process for the Creation of Visualizations

The design process is a series of endeavors aimed to solve a problem, which is extensively defined as a need, a task, a situation, etc. Visualizations are objects that result from a design process that solves a problem of unreadable data. They are technical mediators that transform data in graphics through a precise authorship that defines their social and political context. One way to understand visualizations is to analyze the process of design: this approach, applied to a case study called Affinity Map, unveils the complexity of an object and reveals the reasons of its creation.