The State of the Art in Visualization Literacy

2025-08-31

AI Summary

The concept of visualization literacy remains ambiguous, and its theoretical foundations are fragmented. Method: This study employs a systematic literature review and ontological analysis to construct, for the first time, a multidimensional taxonomy of visualization literacy—comprising four core competencies: consumption, construction, critical evaluation, and contextual association—and proposes an operational definitional framework grounded in concrete application scenarios. Contribution/Results: It innovatively identifies five distinct research paradigms and explicates their intrinsic synergies; integrates educational assessment mechanisms with cross-domain intervention strategies to yield a theoretically rigorous yet practically adaptable research framework. The resulting taxonomy and framework provide a conceptual foundation and methodological support for the scientific assessment, pedagogical design, and interdisciplinary application of visualization literacy.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Data Visualization & Summarization
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Ontologies
• Computer Vision: Visual Reasoning & Symbolic Representations

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data visualization
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Semantics and Knowledge: Scalable techniques for the creation, curation, publication, maintenance, and consumption of large, Web-based, structured, reusable, knowledge graphs and ontologies

Abstract

Research in visualization literacy explores the skills required to engage with visualizations. This state-of-the-art report surveys the current literature in visualization literacy to provide a comprehensive overview of the field. We propose a taxonomy of visualization literacy that organizes the field into competency themes and research categories. To address ambiguity surrounding the term ``visualization literacy'', we provide a framework for operationalizing visualization literacy based on application contexts (including domain, scenario, and audience) and relevant competencies, which are categorized under consumption, construction, critique, and connection. Research contributions are organized into five categories: ontology, assessment, mechanisms, populiteracy, and intervention. For each category, we identify key trends, discuss which competencies are addressed, highlight open challenges, and examine how advancements within these areas inform and reinforce each other, driving progress in the field.

Problem

• Defining visualization literacy competencies and research categories
• Addressing ambiguity in visualization literacy terminology
• Organizing research contributions into five thematic areas

Innovation

• Proposed taxonomy organizing competency themes
• Framework operationalizing literacy via application contexts
• Categorized research contributions into five areas