Visualisation for Problem Solving (OCR A Level Computer Science)

Revision Note

Author

Expertise

Computer Science

Visualisation is when data or concepts are presented in simpler form for humans to understand
It will often create a graphical or visual representation of something to understand complex systems or data

Benefits	Drawbacks
Visualisation can simplify concepts that are easier for humans to understand.	Although it can show data in a visual way, it cannot explain why something is the way that it is.
It can make it easier to spot new trends and patterns that have not been spotted before.	Different people may interpret the visualisations in different ways.
It can be used to explain complex situations to allow programmers to get a better understanding of the problems of a current system.	The way that the data is presented can have an impact on its understanding.

These are diagrams that represent workflows or processes in a system
They help in mapping out each step, making it easier to predict outcomes
In the example below, the checkout process is a complex user journey that has to ensure users don't check out for items that are no longer available in stock
When buying concert tickets or limited-edition merchandise, these are usually highly volatile episodes for a checkout server, especially when users often have multiple baskets across multiple devices, abandoning journeys and editing basket contents

Using flowcharts to visualise a checkout process

These provide a standard way to visualise a system's architecture
They are useful for understanding how classes and objects interact with each other

Using UML diagrams to visualise how objects interact with each other in a system

These are low-fidelity design plans that represent the skeletal framework of a program or website
They help with layout planning and user experience design

Using wireframe diagrams to visualise how a user interface will look

to absolutely everything:

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

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