Using the “Physics” of notations to analyze a visual representation of business decision modeling

Visual representations are common in communicating about artifacts such as computer programs, software architectures, and business rules. Yet, generally speaking, these representations seem much harder to learn and to use than many of the representations in other domains. Moody [1] has pointed this out and proposed a set of principles for visual representations based on a wide review of relevant literature in cognitive psychology and software engineering. The real test of this framework is to use it. In this paper, we apply the principles set forth in Moody to examine and improve a proposed representation for business rules and business decisions.