I’ve seen this before, but it just fully hit me today – WordPress.org uses an interesting method of communicating information on a plugin’s compatibility with WordPress. They apply the model of a simple addition equation (grade school style!) to communicate the likelihood that a given version of a plugin will work with a specific version of WordPress.
The metaphor doesn’t hold up entirely, of course, but it does a decent job of communicating both the ‘sum’ as well as how to interact with the widget to get more information. It’s a fairly successful instance of leveraging a common, existing model to illustrate a new set of information.