Developing a visual taxonomy: Children's views on aesthetics

This article explores the aesthetic design criteria that should be incorporated into the information visualization of a taxonomy intended for use by children. Seven elementary-school students were each asked to represent their ideas in drawings for visualizing a taxonomy. Their drawings were analyzed according to six criteria - balance, equilibrium, symmetry, unity, rhythm, and economy - identified as aesthetic measures in previous research. The drawings revealed the presence of all six measures, and three - unity, equilibrium, and rhythm - were found to play an especially important role. It is therefore concluded that an aesthetic design for an information visualization for young users should incorporate all six measures.