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The Evolving Duet of Two Modalities: A Survey on Integrating Text and Visualization for Data Communication

Xingyu Lan, Xi Li, Yixing Zhang, Mengqin Cheng, Jiazhe Wang, Siming Chen

Abstract

Text plays a fundamental yet understudied role as a narrative device in data visualization. While existing research has extensively explored text as data input and interaction modality, its function in supporting storytelling and interpretation remains fragmented. To address this gap, this work presents a systematic review of 98 publications that provide insights into using text as narrative. We investigate how text can be utilized in visualization, analyze its functions and effects, and explore how it can be designed to facilitate data communication. Our synthesis identifies significant research gaps in this domain and proposes future directions to advance the integration of text and visualization, ultimately aiming to provide guidance for designing text that enhances narrative clarity and fosters engagement.

The Evolving Duet of Two Modalities: A Survey on Integrating Text and Visualization for Data Communication

Abstract

Text plays a fundamental yet understudied role as a narrative device in data visualization. While existing research has extensively explored text as data input and interaction modality, its function in supporting storytelling and interpretation remains fragmented. To address this gap, this work presents a systematic review of 98 publications that provide insights into using text as narrative. We investigate how text can be utilized in visualization, analyze its functions and effects, and explore how it can be designed to facilitate data communication. Our synthesis identifies significant research gaps in this domain and proposes future directions to advance the integration of text and visualization, ultimately aiming to provide guidance for designing text that enhances narrative clarity and fosters engagement.
Paper Structure (27 sections, 4 figures, 2 tables)

This paper contains 27 sections, 4 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Surveys
  3. Methodology
  4. Paper Search and Corpus Collection
  5. Coding Process
  6. Why Integrating Text and Visualization
  7. Domain and User Needs
  8. Theoretical Underpinnings
  9. Empirical Findings
  10. What Are the Manifestations of Text?
  11. Textual Forms
  12. Modalities of Integration
  13. Manifestations Across Research Areas
  14. How to Perform Text Design?
  15. T1: Explain
  16. ...and 12 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Three threads of research concerning text in the context of data visualization.
  • Figure 2: Distribution of the 98 papers in our corpus. Paper collection ended in August 2025.
  • Figure 3: Textual forms (left) and their modalities of integration with visualization (right). Examples of these modalities include: (a) single visualization ren2017chartaccent, (b) labeled data physicalization sauve2022put, (c) labeled VR visualization novotny2024evaluating, (d) data-driven article zhi2019linking, (e) slideshow zheng2022evaluating, (f) multi-view system badam2018elastic, (g) infographic/comic wang2020data, (h&i) data-rich documents beck2017eyegoffin2016exploratory, (j) using text within a visualization as well as in parallel with the visualization kong2014extracting, (k) using separate panels to show text and visualizations while also embedding small inline charts within the text panel mumtaz2019exploranative, (l) Charagraph enables bi-directional interaction and switch between text and chart masson2023charagraph, (m) several assembly forms of text and image that can be flexibly switched proposed by Beck et al. beck2017word.
  • Figure 4: Examples of various design techniques: (a) Notable li2023notable, (b) coronaMoments kauer2025towards, (c) Contextifier hullman2013contextifier, (d) Personalized sentence kim2016generating, (e) EmphasisChecker kim2023emphasischecker, (f) Visualization badges edelsbrunner2026visualization, (g) GistVis zou2025gistvis, (h) Visual links steinberger2011context, (i) Voder srinivasan2018augmenting (j) Crossdata chen2022crossdata, (k) Pluto srinivasan2025pluto, (l) Kori latif2021kori.