Visuals int he digital space include anything that is not a word, such as typography, photography, icons, diagrams and any graphical elements. Images are the first way to grab a user’s attention. If you fail to do so with a pic, then they will not likely read the words you worked so hard to create. Visual representations are, indeed as powerful as words. Users should be able to interact with them seamlessly using only their intuition.
https://usabilitygeek.com/introduction-interaction-design/