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 “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  10 6 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 BeamShear wall ARCHITECT partition wall Circulation space HOTEL PROJECT ENGINEER BeamShear wall ARCHITECT partition wall Circulation space HOTEL PROJECT ENGINEER BeamShear wall ARCHITECT partition wall Circulation space HOTEL PROJECT ENGINEER BeamShear 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: Concepts DOWN: Detailed designs SIDEWAYS: Alternatives Explore project context: UP: Bigger chunks DOWN: Smaller details SIDEWAYS: Related items © Peter Demian, Renate Fruchter 2001

Overview then details on demand © 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 SimilarityCumulative similarityAveraged 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