Word, Visual and Mathematical Models

Word Models:

• Consist of words.
• Examples: a specification, an abstract
• Provide significant amount of information
• Can be structured in different ways
• Weakness: linear and not multi-dimensional – hard to provide complex relationships, can become unwieldy

Visual Models:

• Type of picture – ‘a picture paints a thousand words’
• Show a lot of information in small amount of space
• Show relationships between components/elections of situation/system
• Combine with word model – effective analysis of situation
• Example: London Underground map – not to scale and physical layout different to geographical layout. Provides multiple options for chosen journey. Valid model – functions correctly and consistently.

Mathematical Models:

• Contain numeric figures, functions or logical statements
• Effective at providing significant amounts of information
• Effective at producing summary information
• Range in format from list of numbers to formulae, balance sheets and spreadsheets
• Decision-making aid – able to provide key information
• Important in performance monitoring with metrics and KPIs
• Weakness: lack of context e.g. profit of x excludes info such as turnover, targets and costs
• Need to combine with word models to provide full view of situation