Many Views Are Not Enough: Designing for Synoptic Insights in Cultural Collections

Abstract— Cultural object collections attract and delight spectators since ancient times. Yet, they also easily overwhelm visitors due to their perceptual richness and the amount of associated information. Similarly, digitized collections appear as multifaceted and complex phenomena, which can be challenging to grasp and navigate. For that matter, visualizations offer various types of collection overviews, together with object details on demand. Yet, also multiple overviews do not easily assemble into a "big picture" or lead to an integrated and synoptic understanding. With the PolyCube framework of collection visualization we introduce a system design to maximize connections and coherence between multiple views. With map, set, and network visualizations it makes spatial, categorial, and relational collection aspects visible. For the essential historical dimension it offers four different techniques of choice: color coding, animation, juxtaposition, and space-time cube representations. An outlook is dedicated to the system's applicability within other digital humanities data and topic realms.