Data Visualization & Interaction (Offered Every Fall)
In our increasingly data-rich world, simply having data isn’t enough β we need to understand it, communicate it effectively, and extract actionable insights from it. This course empowers you to transform raw numbers and complex datasets into compelling, insightful visual narratives. We’ll blend the art of design with the science of data, learning how to create interactive visualizations that not only look good but also enable powerful data exploration and decision-making. Get ready to become a data storyteller!
What You’ll Explore:
1. Visual Perception & Cognition ποΈπ§
The human element is key! We’ll start by understanding how our eyes and brains process visual information, exploring principles of pre-attentive attributes, Gestalt psychology, and cognitive biases. This lays the groundwork for designing effective and intuitive visualizations.
2. Data Fundamentals & Preparation π§Ή
Before we visualize, we clean and structure! Learn about different data types (quantitative, categorical, ordinal), data quality issues, and essential techniques for wrangling, cleaning, and transforming your data to make it suitable for visualization.
3. Visualizing Spatial Data πΊοΈ
Explore techniques for representing geographic locations and spatial relationships. From simple scatter plots on maps to choropleth maps, heatmaps, and flow maps, we’ll learn to convey location-based insights effectively.
4. Visualizing Tree Structures π²
Dive into hierarchical data! Learn how to effectively visualize relationships and structures in organizational charts, file systems, category taxonomies, and other tree-like datasets using methods like treemaps, sunburst charts, and node-link diagrams.
5. Visualizing Graph Structures (Networks) πΈοΈ
Uncover connections! Master techniques for visualizing complex networks, social graphs, co-occurrence relationships, and other graph data to reveal hidden patterns, communities, and central nodes.
6. Visualizing Time-Varying Data π
See trends unfold! Learn how to effectively represent changes over time, from traditional line charts and area charts to more advanced streamgraphs, sparklines, and animated timelines that show evolution and patterns over temporal dimensions.
7. Visualizing Text Data π¬
Transform words into insights! Explore methods for visualizing textual information, including word clouds, n-gram charts, sentiment analysis visualizations, topic models, and network graphs derived from text.
8. Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) & Advanced Mapping π
Beyond basic maps, delve into the power of GIS for analyzing and visualizing complex geographical datasets with real-world applications in urban planning, environmental science, and public health.
9. Visualizing High-Dimensional Data β¨
Tame complexity! Learn strategies to visualize datasets with many attributes (dimensions), employing techniques like parallel coordinates, scatter plot matrices, dimensionality reduction (e.g., PCA, t-SNE), and glyph-based representations.
10. Interactive Views & Dashboard Design πΉοΈ
Bring your data to life! Explore principles of interactive design, enabling users to filter, zoom, pan, drill down, and explore data dynamically. We’ll also cover best practices for designing effective and user-friendly dashboards.
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