A systematic review on the definition of UML profiles
MODELS'10 Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Model driven engineering languages and systems: Part I
Analysing the cognitive effectiveness of the BPMN 2.0 visual notation
SLE'10 Proceedings of the Third international conference on Software language engineering
Analysing the cognitive effectiveness of the UCM visual notation
SAM'10 Proceedings of the 6th international conference on System analysis and modeling: about models
Proceedings of the 2012 iConference
Pictures are visually processed; symbols are also recognized
Diagrams'12 Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Diagrammatic Representation and Inference
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The Cognitive Dimensions of Notations (CDs) framework has become the predominant theoretical paradigm for analysing visual languages (VLs). This paper evaluates the CDs framework using established conceptual frameworks for analysing scientific theories. It concludes that while it is a paradigm, it is not scientific according to standards normally applied in scientific research. It also represents the earliest evolutionary form of theory, which is appropriate when no prior theory exists. This paper asks whether such a theory is an appropriate paradigm for VL research after a quarter of a century of research in this field. The CDs framework has performed a valuable role in advancing the analysis of VLs beyond the level of intuition, but should not be seen as the end point for theory development in this field. This paper proposes a more powerful, domain-specific theory (the Physics of Notations) as an alternative paradigm for VL research.