Remo Aslak Burkhard

Visual representations in knowledge management: framework and cases

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the potential of visualization for corporate knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – The employed methodology consists of a taxonomy of visualization formats that are embedded in a conceptual framework to guide the application of visualization in knowledge management according to the type of knowledge that is visualized, the knowledge management objective, the target group, and the application situation. This conceptual framework is illustrated through real-life examples. Findings – The findings show that there is much room for knowledge management applications based on visualization beyond the mere referencing of experts or documents through knowledge maps. Research limitations/implications – The research implications thus consist of experimenting actively with new forms of visual knowledge representation and evaluating their benefits or potential drawbacks rigorously. Practical implications – The authors encourage managers to look beyond simple diagrammatic representations of knowledge and explore alternative visual languages, such as visual metaphors or graphic narratives. Originality/value – This paper consists of two elements: first, the systematic, descriptive and prescriptive approach towards visualization in knowledge management, and second the innovative examples of how to harness the power of visualization in knowledge management.

Learning from architects: the difference between knowledge visualization and information visualization

This work focuses on an aspect which has been neglected, but which is decisive: the transfer of knowledge to different stakeholders; especially the transfer of insights derived from information visualization tools. In knowledge management, the transfer of knowledge is a core process, which can be improved by using our innate abilities to process visual representations. The potential of visualizations are manifold. But business managers miss a holistic framework on the use of visualization methods for information exploration and communication tasks. This paper analyzes how architects use visualizations to amplify cognition and to transfer knowledge. It introduces a mediating framework that brings together isolated research directions and defines the new research focus knowledge visualization. Knowledge visualization examines the use of visualizations for the transfer of knowledge between at least two people. We found that the new focus is decisive and has implications for researchers in information visualization and knowledge management.

Towards a framework and a model for knowledge visualization: synergies between information and knowledge visualization

This article presents synergies between the research areas information visualization and knowledge visualization from a knowledge management and a communication science perspective. It presents a first theoretical framework and a model for the new field of knowledge visualization. It describes guidelines and principles derived from our professional practice and previous research on how architects successfully use complementary visualizations to transfer and create knowledge among individuals from different social, cultural, and educational backgrounds. The findings and insights are important for researchers and practitioners in the fields of information visualization, knowledge visualization, knowledge management, information design, media didactics, instructional psychology, and communication sciences.

Integrating Knowledge and Information: Digital Concept Maps as a Bridging Technology

Current affordances in educational and workplace settings have much to do with managing and making use of complex knowledge and a diversity of information resources. Knowledge and information visualizations are used to make structures of knowledge and information apparent, as well as to help users coping with complex tasks and ill-structured subject matter. Knowledge visualization aims at assisting the users in learning and problem solving. Information visualization aims at helping users to explore large amounts of data by making use of the human cognitive ability to see patterns and by using interactive filtering techniques. Both approaches suffer from shortcomings resulting from the limitations of their conceptual rationale, as well as those of the representational techniques and methods used for visualization. These shortcomings may not easily be overcome with means provided by the individual approaches alone. It is suggested that synergies may be revealed when ideas and technologies from both fields are brought together. Along these lines, the Special Issue draws attention to digital concept mapping as a bridging technology to overcome shortcomings in visualizing knowledge and information. This introductory paper serves the purpose of outlining the rationale and goals of the special issue. It provides a preview of the relevance of each papers contributions to the central theme of this issue.

Automatic layout of project plans using a metro map metaphor

In this paper, we describe a tool to improve inter-functional communication of project plans by displaying them as a metro map. Our tool automatically lays out plans using a multicriteria system adapted for the application area. Previous studies have shown that displaying project plans using a metro map metaphor as a complementary visualization to Gantt charts attracts and engages individuals, presents an overview of detail and initiates discussions. Creating such a map manually is time consuming. Hence, we have developed a software tool that converts a standard planning format into a metro map visualization and assists designers in generating comprehensible layouts. Our findings may be important for researchers in the domain of human computer interaction, project managers, knowledge visualization and communication scientists.

Beyond Excel and Powerpoint: knowledge maps for the transfer and creation of knowledge in organizations

This paper presents a framework and three case studies on knowledge maps in organizations. In organizations, speed, clarity, and effectiveness are essential for the transfer of knowledge. Today, mainly text is used. This paper illustrates how knowledge maps, a subset of knowledge visualization, help to transfer strategic knowledge in organizations. First, we introduce a framework that structures knowledge maps. Secondly, we describe with three complementary case studies how organizations profited from the various functions of knowledge maps. The findings are important for researchers in the fields of knowledge visualization, information visualization, knowledge management and for practitioners from different industries.

The Potential of Crowd Simulations for Communication Purposes in Architecture

This article discusses an early stage of research on the potential of crowd simulation tools for (marketing) communication purposes in architecture and urban planning. We argue that today, in architecture and urban planning, agent-based simulation tools have been primarily used for analytical purposes, such as the simulation of pedestrians or fire escape scenarios in buildings, and only rarely for the creation of videos for communication purposes, for example for marketing purposes. We found that even with the best available software tools the cost-benefit ratio for architects is not yet optimal and that architects might - from an economic point of view - today be more effective if they outsource such a task to an animation specialist.This paper is relevant for architects, urban designers, communication and PR experts and for researchers in the fields of architecture, knowledge visualization, communication science, agent-based simulations.

Learning from Architects: Complementary Concept Mapping Approaches:

The research scope in concept mapping research can be extended with the investigation of complementary concept mapping approaches, which are visual representations that complement the classical node link diagrams from Novak. To do so, concept mapping researchers can draw inspiration from architects. This article presents four strategies of architects to map concepts. The analysis shows what concept mapping researchers can benefit from architects: first, from the practice of architects to use complementary visualizations, which is investigated in the research field of Knowledge Visualization. Second, from their practice to structure information, which is investigated in the research field of Information Architecture. Both research fields are relevant for concept mapping researchers who investigate new formal approaches that complement the concept mapping approach taken by Novak. Third, the article discusses examples of complementary concept maps in different business situations.

Visualizing the Relationship Between Human Mobility and Points of Interest

In transportation studies, one fundamental problem is to analyze the departures and arrivals at locations in order to predict the travel demands for urban planning and traffic management. These movements can relate to many factors, e.g., activity distributions and household demographics. This paper presents how we use visualization to explore the relationship between people movements and activity distributions that are characterized by the points of interest (POIs). To effectively model and visualize such relationship, we introduce POI-mobility signature, a compact visual representation with two main components. 1) A mobility component to present major people movements information across temporal dimension. 2) A POI component to present the activity context over an area of interest in spatial domain. To derive the signature, we study assorted analytical tasks after discussing with transportation researchers, consider essential design principles, and apply the representation to study a real-world dataset, which is the massive public transportation data in Singapore with over 30 million trajectories and crowd-sourcing POIs retrieved from Foursquare. Finally, we conduct three case studies and interview three transportation experts to verify the efficacy of our method.

The ETH Value Lab and Two Software Tools for Knowledge Creation in Teams

This article discusses three tools that allow making collaboration and decision-making more effective. It presents insights from working in the “ETH Baugarten Value Lab”, a new research space with five touch displays. First, the article introduces this lab. Then, it introduces two software tools to support communication and group decision-making. The first tool is targeted at urban planners, the second at managers. We found that (1) the lab fascinates and engages the users, (2) that not many software tools are available for such a setting and that those tools are not very user friendly, (3) that people underestimate the time to design suitable workshops. We have found in various workshops that our two tools seem to go in the right direction, which states that “less functionality is more”.