Stanisław Skórka
This presentation is based on the premise that visual thinking constitutes one of the fundamental paradigms of information architecture, determining the ways in which information is organised, represented and interpreted in digital and hybrid environments. Visualisation is understood as a cognitive tool that supports the understanding of information and the user’s orientation within complex information spaces.
Interdisciplinary sources of visuality in information architecture will be discussed, with particular emphasis on inspiration drawn from architecture, aesthetics and cartography. A key point of reference will be, amongst others, Vitruvius’s triad (durability, utility, beauty), interpreted as a model of the relationship between the structure, function and form of information. Cartography will be presented as an example of information design that integrates meaning, structure and user orientation (wayfinding).
Based on an original model of information architecture comprising three layers—content, code and form—it will be demonstrated that the visual form of information is a consequence of its meaning and the manner of its recording and organisation. In this approach, visualisation acts as a mediator between information and its interpretation by the user, enabling the revelation of relationships that are difficult to perceive in linear and textual messages.
In the context of contemporary systems based on artificial intelligence, it will be emphasised that, despite the growing role of language interfaces and prompts, visuality does not lose its significance, but transforms into an interpretative and orientational layer that supports the building of trust in information.