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. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.