EXPLORING VISUALIZATION METHODS OF GENEALOGY AND LINEAGE
One of the most common ways to represent lineage is through a “family-tree.” Some visualizations, like the one to the right, take this visual metaphor quite literally. This approach accounts for every “branch” and connection to this tree and they typically serve as great maps for navigating the relationships within a family.
However, there is a lesser-known method to represent and visualize lineage, known as a “fan chart” (via Melick Professional Genealogists). This type of chart doesn’t bother with distant family relations or even close family members that don’t fall into your direct lineage, like siblings or aunts and uncles. It operates on the basic concept that one person came from two people, who came from four people, and so on. The resulting visualization is a fanning out from a single person.
Below, I’ve updated this old visualization method and applied it to my own lineage. The left side is the paternal side and the right is the maternal side.
The first thing we notice is the amount we don’t know, with the exception of one small sliver on the paternal side. This small sliver represents research my dad has done to track our family name. As you can see to the right, the origin of my last name comes from a very small sliver of the whole, alluding to the disproportionate amount of attention paid to paternal lineage in any family.
One of the more powerful features of this visualization method is it’s simplicity. It will never change. And once the logic of the diagram is understood, we can begin to tease out other bits of information simply by highlighting portions that meet the criteria we are exploring. See right.
In the final version below, I’ve taken this concept further by using small multiples to highlight various pieces of information. While some of these smaller charts are a bit trivial, it’s easy to imagine how this technique can be applied to more interesting data, like tracking heritage from different countries or visualizing genetic disorders and pre-dispositions.
