Visual Communication Elements for Qualitative Data Design: The Line
Visual communication relies on the audience's ability to interpret messages through sight, effectively influencing their perceptions and actions. Qualitative data seeks to identify common behaviors/emotions, understand context, and share the story to inspire action. By using a design element as simple and versatile as line, qualitative researchers can not only visually tell the story, but influence decision-making and inspire action. In this article, we explore the multifaceted role the design element, Line, plays in visual communication and why understanding when and how to use line is a boon for visualizing, designing, and communicating qualitative research.
Line. It is the foundation of visual communication.
The versatility and simplicity of the line is what gives this element its power in visual design. It can be used to build shapes, create texture, and even shape the overall personality or message you are trying to convey. They can stand alone or integrate with other graphic elements to organize content, guide the viewer's gaze, or even convey emotions. Line can even be used to represent things such as time, length/duration, pathways, etc., while also symbolizing concepts like connection and emphasis.
Why should Qualitative Researchers care about the Design Element of Line?
Qualitative researchers should care about the design element of line because it facilitates the visual representation, emotional expression, symbolic interpretation, structural organization, and aesthetic appeal of research and research insights. Understanding the diverse meanings and applications of lines is incredibly useful for qualitative researchers who desire to craft compelling visual narratives, effectively convey messages, and have their data resonate with target audiences. It can lead to:
1) Enhanced Clarity:
Lines can help clarify complex qualitative data by visually organizing information, illustrating relationships between concepts, and highlighting key findings. This aids in making the research findings more understandable and accessible to both academic and non-academic audiences.
In one project I recently worked on, we found that consumers were becoming more aware of the activities that big companies engage in around social issues – i.e. climate change & the environment, improving social and economic conditions, as well as DEI initiatives. Consumers are more vocal than in their expectations and take company values into account when making purchasing decisions. So, how were we to explain that all of these factors needed to be considered by companies when developing their marketing strategy to their consumer base? Ultimately, I ended up creating a mini-infographic:
Mini-infographic A
Mini-Infographic B
Here’s where the element of line really showcased it’s subtle power. Both mini-infographics use the same information, icons, and layout. But, which one helps give the eye direction? Which one really clearly illustrates the relationships being discussed? In A the icons are just ‘floating’ there and there is nothing to tell us what the relationship is. Whereas with B, the line connects all the icons, telling the viewer that these concepts are all related.
2) Improved Engagement:
Visual representations incorporating lines are often more engaging and memorable than text alone. By utilizing lines creatively in charts, diagrams, or infographics, researchers can capture audience attention and encourage active participation in understanding the research content.
To me the quintessential example of using line to engage is the journey map. A quick google search will yield a myriad of examples of how line is used in journey mapping. One of my favorite examples is from Stephanie Evergreen’s article on Journey Maps (https://stephanieevergreen.com/journey-maps/).
What I appreciate about this graphic is that she uses the dotted line to literally follow the client’s journey from beginning to end. She’s identified touchpoints by phase and associated phase color, then mapped that point onto a ‘graph’. By connecting the dots using a line, she’s made it easy for anyone looking at this graph to instantly understand the highs, lows, and areas for improvement for this program. It’s a bit harder to see that without the line:
3) Expressing Complexity:
Qualitative research often deals with nuanced and multifaceted phenomena. Lines offer a versatile tool for representing this complexity visually, allowing researchers to convey layers of meaning, ambiguity, and interconnectivity inherent in qualitative data.
I was recently reading an article about sustainable textiles in Sri Lanka (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159439 ) and learned that Sri Lanka has two market levels for their handloom textiles industry: Mass consumer textile goods and Niche consumer textile goods. I thought that the authors did a good job briefly describing these two markets in their paper, but thought to myself “If I were to present this to someone outside of academia and the Sri Lankan textile industry, how would I present this two tiered market structure?” and it became an exercise in qualitative data design.
This is a simpler example of a complex market visualization using just lines, but you can see how the use of line can help the viewer to quickly track and understand the focus of each market the Sri Lankan handloom industry serves:
4) Facilitating Comparison:
Lines can be used to compare and contrast different aspects of qualitative data, such as themes, perspectives, or temporal trends. Visual representations using lines enable researchers and audiences to discern patterns and variations more effectively.
Ok, I read a lot about textiles and the textiles industry. In addition to being a fiber artist, I’m also a trained anthropologist with a special interest in textile culture, industry, and technology, so for this design example, I’m once again diving in the Sri Lankan Handloom Textile Sector.
So for this visual, I wanted to identify similar themes between the historic and modern Sri Lankan textile industry (as discussed in the paper). To do that I used the element of line to build an custom chart as well as highlight the prominent textile producing provinces in the map.
It might seem simple, but what if I had not used lines to define this chart and map?
Ok, not bad to look at and understand, but the eye is still not quite sure where to look and associate information. Let’s add two lines:
As we can see, now it is starting to get easier to quickly compare and contrast our themes. Even adding two lines to break up the comparison is better than none when trying to compare qualitative themes.
In essence, qualitative researchers should care about line as an element of visual communication because it promotes clarity, engagement, makes it easier to express the complexity of the data, allows for comparison, and can increase impact of qualitative research findings. Well-designed visualizations featuring lines can enhance the impact and dissemination of qualitative research. And as we all are aware -> compelling visuals attract attention, stimulate curiosity, and encourage information sharing, thereby amplifying the reach and influence of the research outcomes.
