10 How Visualizations Work
TL;DR: , do your homework
readings (links) & lectures ～ assignments due ～ live session agenda
This week we’ll apply what we’ve learned about bias and fallacy in verbal information to the study of visual communication. We lean heavily on Tufte’s minimalist aesthetic as an example of a visualization strategy. We’ll ask whether the same principles of static visualization apply to an age of interactive and dynamic graphics.
In a group project you’ll study documentaries as a dominant form of visual storytelling. Be sensitive to how the power of visualization and storytelling may pit a viewer’s system 1 against her system 2. Optional: locate a good and bad visualization on the internet and share it on Slack.
 *OR* A Helpful Guide for Space Invaders](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Pioneer_plaque.svg/606px-Pioneer_plaque.svg.png)
Figure 29: The Pioneer Plaque OR A Helpful Guide for Space Invaders
Readings
- ↓ Huff (1954f)
- ↓ Huff (1954g)
- ↓ Offenhuber (2010)
- ↓ Perkel (2018)
- ↓ Edward R Tufte (2009a)
- ↓ Edward R Tufte (2009b)
Lectures
- ↓ 10.1 Introduction to How Visualizations Work
- ↓ 10.2 Weekly Video
- ↓ 10.3 Assigned Readings
- ↓ 10.4 Information Visualization 101
- ↓ 10.4.1 Information Visualization Examples
- ↓ 10.4.2 Expert Opinion
- ↓ 10.5 Visualizations Through History
- ↓ 10.6 Visualization Discussion
- ↓ 10.7 Week 10 Wrap-Up
10.1 Introduction to How Visualizations Work ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| η υ | NA | NA |
10.2 Weekly Video ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| β ι | NA | NA |
10.3 Assigned Readings ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| ψ η | NA | NA |
10.4 Information Visualization 101 ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| ζ β | NA | NA |
10.4.1 Information Visualization Examples ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| ψ λ | NA | NA |
10.4.2 Expert Opinion ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| μ φ | NA | NA |
10.5 Visualizations Through History ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| ψ α | NA | NA |
10.6 Visualization Discussion ↑
| Players | Slug | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| μ θ | NA | NA |
Bibliography
Huff, Darrell. 1954f. “Chapter 5 the Gee-Whiz Graph.” In How to Lie with Statistics, 62–67. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Huff, Darrell. 1954g. “Chapter 6 the One-Dimensional Picture.” In How to Lie with Statistics, 68–75. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Offenhuber, Dietmar. 2010. “Visual Anecdote.” Leonardo 43 (4): 367–74. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40864131.
Perkel, Jeffrey M. 2018. “Data Visualization Tools Drive Interactivity and Reproducibility in Online Publishing.” News. Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-01322-9.
Tufte, Edward R. 2009a. “Graphical Practice.” In The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 12–87. Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press.
Tufte, Edward R. 2009b. “Theory of Data Graphics.” In The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 89–191. Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press.