Analogy and metaphor in the design of visual artifacts for biology. The example of the Machine de Lejeune.

The PhD work focuses on the design of visual artifacts for scientific research in the domain of biology, in laboratory environments and in the process of scientific discovery. The dissertation is presented as an epistemological study of information and communication design, collecting input from different fields of knowledge, from biochemistry to Human-Computer Interaction and design theories, from the sociology of scientific practice to semiotics and philosophy of science. The goal is to enrich the cultural background available to information and communication design with the experience and knowledge accumulated also by other disciplines. The choice of the domain of biology is driven by the artifact taken as an example of a significant application of analogy for visual communication and scientific explanation: the “Machine de Lejeune” (1978), a visual artifact developed by Jérôme Lejeune, who drew a visual analogy with a fictional mechanical calculator to describe the metabolism of a human nervous cell. Strong attention is given to the concepts of metaphor and analogy, and how these rhetorical devices become an integral part of scientific endeavors. These rhetorical devices are mentioned by literature in Human-Computer Interaction as privileged instruments for creating conceptual models, the foundation of meaningful communication design artifacts. The logical function of analogy and metaphor of mapping two domains is meant to lead the readers to a better understanding of the functioning of an information system. However, literature in the design field seldom provides descriptions of analogies and metaphors which can be directly applied and controlled in the design of visual artifacts. The dissertation highlights the knowledge in literature available for analyzing these logical devices. The dissertation also provides guidelines on how to identify and manage the design issues considered most challenging for the designer who approaches the analysis and production of visual artifacts for biology and those which include analogies and metaphors. Lejeune developed the Machine as a communication device for specific research and dialogical reasons. The analogy he embedded in his scientific model and representation allows the specialists to access complex biochemical information and to infer divergent data patterns due to metabolic conditions in Trisomy 21. The Machine is an unprecedented visual representation in the field due to its conceptual and graphic premises. The dissertation benefits from this example by putting it in relation to multidisciplinary literature. The collected knowledge supports the designers in understanding the facets of the design problem while creating visual artifacts for scientific explanation in biology: in understanding the logical implications of analogy, metaphor and models for communication purposes; in getting acquainted with the domains to put into relation through the visual analogy; in stating which is the main hypothesis and vision driving the representation; in determining the way the hypothesis is rendered visually and which parts are purposefully left out; in elaborating the dialogical role the scientific équipe should attribute the visual artifact during laboratory practice. By supplying aptly crafted visual artifacts, designers can support scientific researchers in their laboratory work and also make a significant contribution to welfare and society as a whole.