[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-656330-105":3,"doc-detail-656330-en":81,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":99},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","transforming-descriptions-and-diagrams-to-sketches-in-information-system-design","Transforming Descriptions and Diagrams to Sketches in Information System Design","","Sketching is central to information systems design, requiring designers to translate verbal descriptions into multiple sketch types and convert between them. Research with design students examined building a system configuration from either a sequential diagram or a sequential description, which were logically equivalent. Diagram sources produced designs closer to the originals, with fewer omissions, while text sources led to more variable and less accurate designs, likely due to extra cognitive steps from representation to solution.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/technology/","Technology",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/transforming-descriptions-and-diagrams-to-sketches-in-information-system-design/656330/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/transforming-descriptions-and-diagrams-to-sketches-in-information-system-design/656330.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"\tCallum ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-25",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What skills do designers need for sketching in information system design?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Designers must translate verbal descriptions into different sketch types and convert among sketch types, especially sequential and logical representations.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did the study compare diagram-based versus text-based system design?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Students designed system configurations from either a sequential diagram or an equivalent sequential description; diagram sources yielded designs that matched the original more closely with fewer omissions.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why do text descriptions often produce less accurate designs?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Text descriptions require more cognitive steps between problem representation and problem solution, which likely increases variability and omissions.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},656330,1793029518,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",{"doc_id":79,"user_id":84,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":85,"doc_module":4,"category_id":86,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":87,"file_id":88,"file_url":89,"file_type":90,"file_size":91,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":92,"language":93,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":94,"faqs":95,"seo_title":96,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":97,"read_time":98},137451211410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000bb0a9246f588df?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786362646172706240",6,"Transforming Descriptions and Diagrams to Sketches in Information System Design  \nBarbara Tversky1, James E. Corter 1, Jeffrey V. Nickerson2, Doris Zahner2, and Yun Jin Rho 1  \n1 Teachers College, Columbia University  \n2 Stevens Institute of Technology  \n[bt2158@columbia.edu](bt2158@columbia.edu) , [corter@tc.edu](corter@tc.edu) , [jnickerson@stevens.edu](jnickerson@stevens.edu) , [dzahner@stevens.edu](dzahner@stevens.edu) , [yjr2101@columbia.edu](yjr2101@columbia.edu)  \nAbstract. Sketching is integral to information systems design. Designers need to become fluent in translating verbal descriptions of systems to a variety of kinds of sketches, notably sequential and logical, and to translate among the kinds. Here, we investigated these cognitive skills in design students, asking them to design a system configuration starting from either a sequential diagram or a sequential description. Although the two source descriptions were logically equivalent, the diagram led to designs that corresponded more closely to the source description – that is, designs with fewer omissions of crucial components and links. Text descriptions led to more variable and less accurate designs, most likely because they require more cognitive steps from problem representation to problem solution.  \nKeywords: Diagrammatic reasoning, sketches, descriptions, problem representation, information systems design, topological diagrams.  \n1 Introduction  \nSketching is critical to design, whether for design of the concrete, products or buildings, or for design of the abstract, information systems or corporate structures. In designing, formative sketches show the components, walls, for example, or computers, and their relations, spatial, functional, or temporal. In emphasizing the components and their relations, sketches abstract out information not needed in early stages of design such as the surface of the walls or the specifics of the servers. One common task of designers, especially when working with clients, is translating a verbal description of the requirements for a building or an information management task into a sketch. On other occasions, designers need to translate one kind of sketch into another, for example, transforming a plan into an elevation in the case of architecture, changing perspective, or transforming a temporal sketch of information transmission into a structural sketch of the components in the case of information design, changing time to space. For design of information systems, the focus here, the design task is made more challenging by the fact that it is the topology of the system  \nG. Stapleton, J. Howse, and J. Lee (Eds.): Diagrams 2008, LNAI 5223, pp. 242–256, 2008.© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008  \nTransforming Descriptions and Diagrams to Sketches in Information System Design 243  \nthat is critical, not the Euclidean properties. The topology reflects the functional organization of the system. This fact causes difficulty for novices, since sketches are inherently Euclidean, and beginning designers bring Euclidean assumptions and habits to the situation.  \nDesigners must master many types of external representations. Often a client will give the requirements to the designer verbally, and the designer will present the initial design as a sketch. More conversation occurs, followed by more sketches. Designers must be facile translators to and from diagrammatic representations. For the design of information systems, there are two general types of requirements, sequential and structural. Sequential requirements are step-by-step constraints, for example, the steps from a customer’s request to the shipment of an item or from placing an order with a supplier to the arrival of the goods. Structural requirements  \nfulfill a large set of sequential requirements, insuring that the right information gets to the right sources efficiently, and that the wrong information does not get to the wrong sources.  \nBecause information systems involv","cbCaiq01kZen4JZN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiq01kZen4JZN","pdf",391009,15,"English","# Introduction\n## Translating between sketches and descriptions\n## Topology-focused representation in information systems\n## Sequential vs. structural requirements","[{\"question\":\"What skills do designers need for sketching in information system design?\",\"answer\":\"Designers must translate verbal descriptions into different sketch types and convert among sketch types, especially sequential and logical representations.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the study compare diagram-based versus text-based system design?\",\"answer\":\"Students designed system configurations from either a sequential diagram or an equivalent sequential description; diagram sources yielded designs that matched the original more closely with fewer omissions.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do text descriptions often produce less accurate designs?\",\"answer\":\"Text descriptions require more cognitive steps between problem representation and problem solution, which likely increases variability and omissions.\"}]","Transforming Descriptions and Diagrams to Sketches in Information System Design | PDF",1792967803,38,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":100},[101,105,109,113,117,120,125,130,135,138,142],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":86,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},50,"technology",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":122,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":124},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":128,"slug":129},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":134},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":137},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":139,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":140,"show_sort_weight":139,"slug":141},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":143,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":144,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":145},19,"General","general"]