The Feng Shui of Visualization: Design the Path to SUCCESS and GOOD FORTUNE

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Han, Chang, Mcnutt, Andrew
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Han, Chang
Mcnutt, Andrew
author_facet Han, Chang
Mcnutt, Andrew
contents Superstition and religious belief system have historically shaped human behavior, offering powerful psychological motivations and persuasive frameworks to guide actions. Inspired by Feng Shui -- an ancient Chinese superstition -- this paper proposes a pseudo-theoretical framework that integrates superstition-like heuristics into visualization design. Rather than seeking empirical truth, this framework leverages culturally resonant (superstitious) narratives and symbolic metaphors as persuasive tools to encourage desirable design practices, such as clarity, accessibility, and audience-centered thinking. We articulate a set of visualization designs into a Feng Shui compass, reframing empirical design principles and guidelines within an engaing mythology. We present how visualization design principles can be intepreted in Feng Shui narratives, discussing the potential of these metaphorical principles in reducing designer anxiety, fostering community norms, and enhancing the memorability and internalization of visualization design guidelines. Finally, we discuss Feng Shui visualization theory as a set of cognitive shortcuts that can exert persuasive power through playful, belief-like activities.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_00344
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Feng Shui of Visualization: Design the Path to SUCCESS and GOOD FORTUNE
Han, Chang
Mcnutt, Andrew
Human-Computer Interaction
Superstition and religious belief system have historically shaped human behavior, offering powerful psychological motivations and persuasive frameworks to guide actions. Inspired by Feng Shui -- an ancient Chinese superstition -- this paper proposes a pseudo-theoretical framework that integrates superstition-like heuristics into visualization design. Rather than seeking empirical truth, this framework leverages culturally resonant (superstitious) narratives and symbolic metaphors as persuasive tools to encourage desirable design practices, such as clarity, accessibility, and audience-centered thinking. We articulate a set of visualization designs into a Feng Shui compass, reframing empirical design principles and guidelines within an engaing mythology. We present how visualization design principles can be intepreted in Feng Shui narratives, discussing the potential of these metaphorical principles in reducing designer anxiety, fostering community norms, and enhancing the memorability and internalization of visualization design guidelines. Finally, we discuss Feng Shui visualization theory as a set of cognitive shortcuts that can exert persuasive power through playful, belief-like activities.
title The Feng Shui of Visualization: Design the Path to SUCCESS and GOOD FORTUNE
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00344