2.1 Applications

2.2 Components

2.3 Elements

2.4 Language

Analyses

2.1 Report pages and slides, charts, tables, and graphs

Unify applications and objects: Report pages and slides, charts, tables, and graphs

Visual unification primarily concerns applications, such as reports and presentations and their objects, i. e. charts, tables, and graphs.

2.1.1

Unify applications: reports and presentations 

Applications should be uniform in their structure and in their visual layout so that readers and audiences are able to understand the contents to be conveyed quickly and easily. The uniform structure of reports includes the overall structure as well as single report pages (page types such as title pages, table of contents, glossary, summary, table pages, dashboards, etc.).
The uniform structure of presentations includes the overall structure as well as the layout of individual exhibits (presentation slides, "PowerPoints") such as title slides, chart pages, table pages, dashboards, etc.

2.1.2

Unify objects: charts, e.g. time, structure, and specialties  

Charts are visual representations of numerical series, comparing them helps to understand them. The two most important groups of business charts are those that show developments over time and structural relationships, whereby the time axis appropriately runs horizontally from left to right and the structural axis runs vertically from top to bottom.
In addition, there is a large group of special displays which are based neither on time nor on structure, for example scatter and bubble charts (x-y charts).
Charts are primarily seen, tables are primarily read.

2.1.3

Unify objects: tables, e.g. time, deviation, and cross tables

Tables are two-dimensional arrays of numbers in horizontal columns and vertical rows. They have the advantage of providing a higher level of information density, but the disadvantage compared to charts, which are seen, is that they must be read.
The three most important groups of business charts are time tables, variance tables, and cross tables.

2.1.4

Unify objects: graphs, e.g. org graphs, networks, and maps

In this instance, graphs should be visualization objects in reports and presentations that are not primarily concerned with representing a series of numbers. This includes displays of structure, concept and pictures, such as org graphs, networks, maps, flow plans, product drawings, photos, and screenshots.