Simple Shapes
Simple shapes provide recognizable visual metaphors for abstract concepts, helping you understand and remember them.
THE IDEA
Simple Shapes
Sometimes simple icons can help you visualize some dull abstract ideas and concepts. Once our eye recognizes the icon, we can relate it to the concept or idea in question. For example, if you have to remember a graph, you can visualize the lines on the graph and try to relate them to the idea behind the lines. This technique leverages our innate pattern recognition to make abstract information more concrete and memorable.
When to use it
Explaining a business model using a pyramid shape to represent hierarchy or growth.
Teaching the water cycle with arrows and circles to show evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Using simple shapes as a memory aid for remembering steps in a process or sequence.
Simplifying data visualization in a presentation by mapping abstract metrics to geometric forms.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Graph Lines and Trends
When studying a graph showing a rising trend, visualize the upward slope of a line. The line's shape directly corresponds to the idea of increase or growth, making the abstract data easier to recall.
Hierarchy as a Pyramid
To understand a hierarchical structure (like in an organization or a food chain), picture a triangle or pyramid. The wide base represents the many lower-level elements and the top represents the few highest.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What abstract concept can you represent with a simple shape to improve your understanding?
How might using circles and arrows help you visualize a cyclical process or feedback loop?
Try breaking down a complex idea into basic shapes (square, circle, triangle) and see how they relate to each other.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Thinking in Systems and Mental Models Think Like a Super Thinker (Dawson, Marcus P)