Model outlines: A visual language for DL concept descriptions

Abstract

The development and use of ontologies may require users with no training in formal logic to handle complex concept descriptions. To aid such users, we propose a new visualization framework called “model outlines”, where more emphasis is placed on the semantics of concept descriptions than on their syntax. We present a rigorous definition of our visual language, as well as detailed algorithms for translating between model outlines and the Description Logic $\mathcal {ALCN}$ . We have recently conducted a usability study comparing model outlines and Manchester OWL; here, we report on its results, which indicate the potential benefits of our visual language for understanding concept descriptions.