# Visualization language

Choose the form from the **structure of the information**, not from what looks sophisticated.

When another project arrives, ask: what is the underlying information structure? Then recommend from this table.

| Structure | Form | Lab pattern / experiment |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Relationship | Graph | [Neighborhood Focus](../patterns/extracted/neighborhood-focus.md) |
| Sequence | Timeline | [Overview → Event → Detail](../patterns/extracted/overview-event-detail.md) |
| Hierarchy | Tree | not yet experimental (spatial map is a field, not a tree) |
| Process | Flow | [Animation as Explanation](../patterns/extracted/animation-as-explanation.md) |
| Causality | Directed graph / traced path | process diagram; feedback loop |
| Comparison | Matrix + shared frame | [Shared-Axis Comparison](../patterns/extracted/shared-axis-comparison.md) |
| Change | Animated state | process diagram; feedback loop |
| Mechanism | Simulation | [Labeled Control Loop](../patterns/extracted/labeled-control-loop.md) |
| Spatial relationship | Map | [Distance as Relatedness](../patterns/extracted/distance-as-relatedness.md) |
| Density | Field / heatmap | not yet |
| Overview → detail | Zoomable canvas | spatial map; [Unbounded Cluster Canvas](../patterns/extracted/unbounded-cluster-canvas.md) |
| Emergence | Progressive construction | [Causal Scroll Construction](../patterns/extracted/causal-scroll-construction.md) |
| Structure-in-image | In-situ annotation | [In-situ Annotation](../patterns/extracted/in-situ-annotation.md) |
| Hierarchy in language | Syntactic entrance | [Syntactic Entrance](../patterns/extracted/syntactic-entrance.md) |

Uncertainty, when needed: opacity, range, or branching — not a question-mark icon.