Treemaps for design knowledge visualization and reuse

Peter Demian

PhD. Candidate, Stanford University

Dr. Renate Fruchter

Director of the Project Based Learning Lab, Stanford University

http://pbl.stanford.edu

“all design is redesign”

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Outline• PROBLEM (knowledge reuse in the AEC industry)• PARTIAL SOLUTION (corporate memory)• OBSERVATIONS (how knowledge reuse works) • PROPOSED SOLUTION• TREEMAP ISSUES• CONCLUSIONS

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Problem statement: knowledge life-cycle

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Corporate memory today© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Corporate memory today© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Information overload?• A small corporate memory:

• 10 projects• 10 disciplines• 100 components• 100 versions

106 items

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Corporate memory:

A repository of knowledge in context

Knowledge in context:

Knowledge captured and presented in the context in which it was created, e.g.:

• rationale• evolution• project environment• multidisciplinary perspectives

The corporate memory

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Semantic modeling engine

HOTEL PROJECT

ENGINEER

Beam Shear wall

ARCHITECT

partition wall

Circulation space

HOTEL PROJECT

ENGINEER

Beam Shear wall

ARCHITECT

partition wall

Circulation space

HOTEL PROJECT

ENGINEER

Beam Shear wall

ARCHITECT

partition wall

Circulation space

HOTEL PROJECT

ENGINEER

Beam Shear wall

ARCHITECT

partition wall

Circulation space

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

K reuse process model

REUSE

UNDERSTAND

ASSESS

FIND

KNOWLEDGE

EXPLORATION

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

K reuse process: EXPLORATION

REUSE

KNOWLEDGE

Visually locate reusable item

Explore evolution history:UP: ConceptsDOWN: Detailed designsSIDEWAYS: Alternatives

Explore project context:UP: Bigger chunksDOWN: Smaller detailsSIDEWAYS: Related items

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Overview then details on demand

PROJECT

DISCIPLINE

Component Component

DISCIPLINE

Component Component

CORPORATION

PROJECT

Component Component

Component

Component Component

ComponentTime

P R O J E C T

D IS C IP L IN E

C o m p o n e n t

C O R P O R A T IO N

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Overview: “Map of the corporate memory”

COLOR: Relevance to current design task

SIZE: Amount of knowledge

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Designing a knowledge exploration experience in the iRoom

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Issues

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Nesting control

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Colors

Similarity Cumulative similarity Averaged similarity

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Other issues• Ordering (proximity between similar siblings)

• Labels (needed?)

• Small trees (or small branching factor)

• Beyond trees (mutli-trees, graphs)

• Focal point(s)? (filtering, zooming, distortion)

• Emphasis? (filtering, zooming, distortion)

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

If a treemap is the solution, then what is the problem?

• Visualization, in general:• Beyond information (document) retrieval• Exploration, c.f. creativity

• Specifically treemaps:• Multiple levels of granularity • Large data, small area

© Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001