Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The technical problem
How accurately can the symbols of communication be transmitted?
The semantic problem
How precisely do the transmitted symbols convey the desired meaning?
The effectiveness problem
How effectively does the received meaning affect conduct in the desired way?
As far as technology has advanced since these problems were outlined, we still often suffer
from
technical problems
—inadequate screen resolution, broken audio, grainy video, poor
print quality—anything that results in the receiver receiving something different than what
was originally crafted. Considering all the different devices, operating systems, and software
the person on the receiving end could be using, it can be challenging to make sure the mes-
sage itself is intact.
The
semantic problem
occurs when we encode the message using inappropriate visualization
types, or when the symbols chosen won't be understood by the person on the receiving end.
For example, encoding a value using a circle's diameter rather than its area will skew the per-
ceived proportions (see
Figure 1-3
).
