This pictorial review illustrates an array of visual strategies employed in 271 pictorials published in DIS, C&C, and TEI conferences between 2014 and 2023. Based on a thematic analysis the pictorial review presents the visual strategies under seven analytical themes: 1) composition, 2) typography, 3) colour, 4) drawing attention, 5) visual style, 6) active engagement, and 7) visual related work. The review focuses on strategies for communicating research visually, rather than the content and contribution of the reviewed pictorials. The review outlines both basic graphical principles, as well as novel use of visual elements. The pictorial is the first attempt at a visual analysis of the pictorial format, offering authors of future pictorials, both an overview of the development of the format, as well as inspiration for new ways to complement text with visual content. Lastly, the challenges and future potentials which emerged from the review are discussed.

Historically, blood glucose monitoring (BGM) device design has focused on the physiological aspects of diabetes, with less consideration for the psychological aspects of relating the measurement to one's experienced symptoms. In this pictorial, we explore how the subjective experience of blood glucose monitoring can be supported. We developed the BGM diary, a training system for existing BGM devices. The BGM diary involves a practice of guessing and measuring of blood glucose, followed by an annotation of felt symptoms to facilitate learning about experiences and symptoms. We unpack how blood glucose work could involve persons with diabetes in other ways in their care program through an elaboration on the design aspects of the BGM diary and reflections with a diabetes nurse.

In this pictorial, we offer an overview of the design and step-by-step guidance on crafting a leather self-tracking device for pollen allergies. We designed the device to support patients’ daily lives allowing them to track symptoms and their severity and medicine intake while on the go, multiple times per day. The self-tracker sends the data to an accompanying smartphone application to support patients in understanding their illness, be used in doctors’ consultation, and collect data for allergy research. We chose natural leather as a material for this domestic medical device due to its associations with everyday artifacts, so it would be easier to integrate it into allergy patients’ everyday lives.