Frida Mudsam - Ecological Model of Visualization

A workshop paper on this work was accepted to the CHI 2026 workshop Data Literacy for the 21st Century: Perspectives from Visualization, Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Education where I participated in a panel discussion to talk through these ideas with other researchers in the space.

Read it here! :)

Overview

Visualization interpretation and trust depend on layers of context surrounding it, from personal experience to rhetorical framing to social context. We translate Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (EST) to information visualization, creating an organizing scaffold that both synthesizes prior visualization research and offers a systematic way to connect with adjacent disciplines, such as media studies, AI literacy, journalism, etc.

Approach

We adapt EST's layered structure to visualization interpretation:

Core layer (Visual Encoding): What patterns, trends, or relationships can be read and understood from the visual encodings?
Microsystem layer: Does this visualization feel relevant to me? How do my personal experiences, relationships, beliefs, and emotions shape how I engage with and interpret it?
Exosystem layer: How is this visualization framed or contextualized? Who produced, circulated, or annotated it? What social, institutional, or media influences shape its presentation?
Macrosystem layer: What cultural, linguistic, or epistemic assumptions does this visualization rely on — whose ways of knowing are prioritized or marginalized in how evidence is represented?
Chronosystem layer (Temporal): How do time, experience, and historical context shape interpretation? How might repeated exposure, evolving conventions, or major events influence how this visualization is understood?

Whats Next?

I'm currently working on the full paper version of these ideas with a larger focus on the field of visualization!

Collaborators

This work was done in collaboration with Prof Evan Peck (University of Colorado).