Infographics as a tool for business agreement

Abstract

[EN] The paper analyzes infographics as a problem solving tool acting as a medium for establishing dialog in the business context. Business needs agreements, usually made in a written-form in a document called “brief”. The infographic work can be considered a form of visual agreement for the participants. We present two case studies that consider the use of particular elements and cognitive processes involved in this visual agreement strongly connected to synthesis in dialog, memory and message clarity. By analyzing the visual language structure of real case infographic projects of the national housing social debt collection process (Infonavit, 2010) and the problem of child obesity (OMS, 2008) where drawing plays a major role as a tool to communicate the operation of visual imaginary, we suggest a prominent role of infographics in the shaping process of the client´s inner topology. We introduce a preliminary analytical framework –drawn from studies and theories like Dual-coding Theory (Paivio, 2006), rhetoric, neurocognitive processes (Kosslyn, 1986), aesthetics and language philosophy (Goodman, 1978)– to understand how this visual agreement denotes and connotes unstated viewing conventions and prioritize particular interpretations that can affect the final solution.