REPRESENTATION

Presentation of an idea, object, character or story using methods that are not explicit. If something is represented, rather than depicted, it requires knowledge of how to interpret the information in order to understand it. A model of a soldier inside a game is a direct depiction which requires no interpretation, whereas a health bar only represents the health of that soldier, because further information is required to understand the meaning of the bar itself.

“State of Decay uses a combination of indicators to represent the status of your base, from a bar that visually telegraphs morale levels, to numbers that stand in for the amount of food left.”