Information Visualization
How This Course Will Help Your Career
What You’ll Learn
An introduction to how to design basic information visualizations
What makes a good information visualization
How to apply a range of basic and complex information visualization techniques
How the eye and the brain function together to deliver imagery, and how it affects information visualization design
The history of the information visualization discipline
How to avoid the common problems of visual perception in your designs
How to evaluate the effectiveness of an information visualization
Information visualization skills are in high demand, partly thanks to the rise in big data. Tech research giant Gartner Inc. observed that digital transformation has put data at the center of every organization. With the ever-increasing amount of information being gathered and analyzed, there’s an increasing need to present data in meaningful and understandable ways.
In fact, even if you are not involved in big data, information visualization will be able to help in your work processes as a designer. This is because many design processes—including conducting user interviews and analyzing user flows and sales funnels—involve the collation and presentation of information. Information visualization turns raw data into meaningful patterns, which will help you find actionable insights. From designing meaningful interfaces, to processing your own UX research, information visualization is an indispensable tool in your UX design kit.
This course is presented by Alan Dix, a former professor at Lancaster University in the UK. A world-renowned authority in the field of human-computer interaction, Alan is the author of the university-level textbook Human-Computer Interaction. “Information Visualization” is full of simple but practical lessons to guide your development in information visualization. We start with the basics of what information visualization is, including its history and necessity, and then walk you through the initial steps in creating your own information visualizations. While there’s plenty of theory here, we’ve got plenty of practice for you, too.
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Is This Course Right for You?
This is a beginner-level course suitable for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike:
- UX and UI designers interested in creating effective designs that help users understand large amounts of data
- Information visualization designers who want to have a solid theoretical foundation
- Project managers working on projects that require elegant representations or visualizations of data
- Software engineers looking to learn how to transform raw information into meaningful graphics
- Entrepreneurs who wish to use information visualization to make their products more engaging and intuitive
- Anyone who needs to present information in a manner that an audience can easily digest
Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.
Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers
You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There's no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 18 hours 34 mins spread over 8 weeks .
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
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0.1: An introduction to courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (37 mins)
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0.2: Let our community help you (1 min)
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0.3: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.4: Meet your peers online in our discussion forums (5 mins)
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0.5: Meet and learn from design professionals at an upcoming meetup (1 min)
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0.6: Gain Timeless Skills Through Courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
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0.7: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins)
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0.8: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (6 mins)
Lesson 1: Introduction to Information Visualization
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1.1: An Introduction to Information Visualization (4 mins)
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1.2: Information Visualization – A Brief Introduction (17 mins)
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1.3: Information Visualisation - An Example (14 mins)
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1.4: What is Information Visualisation? (50 mins)
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1.5: The Continuum of Understanding and Information Visualization (20 mins)
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1.6: Guidelines for Good Visual Information Representations (20 mins)
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1.7: Why Information Visualisation? (34 mins)
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1.8: Information Visualization – Who Needs It? (20 mins)
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1.9: Information Visualization – A Brief Pre-20th Century History (18 mins)
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1.10: Information Visualization – A Brief 20th and 21st Century History (15 mins)
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1.11: A Brief History of Visualisation (31 mins)
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1.12: Demonstrating an Understanding of the Principles of What Makes a Good Information Visualization (7 mins)
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1.13: Lesson Roundup – An Introduction to Information Visualization (2 mins)
Lesson 2: Vision and Memory
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2.1: An Introduction to Memory and Visual Perception (3 mins)
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2.2: Vision and Visual Perception Challenges (20 mins)
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2.3: The Properties of Human Memory and Their Importance for Information Visualization (21 mins)
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2.4: Preattentive Visual Properties and How to Use Them in Information Visualization (20 mins)
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2.5: The Law of Similarity - Gestalt Principles (Part 1) (48 mins)
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2.6: Laws of Proximity, Uniform Connectedness, and Continuation – Gestalt Principles (Part 2) (24 mins)
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2.7: The Laws of Figure/Ground, Prägnanz, Closure, and Common Fate - Gestalt Principles (Part 3) (26 mins)
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2.8: Discussion Exercise (7 mins)
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2.9: Lesson Round Up – An Introduction to Memory and Visual Perception (2 mins)
Lesson 3: Basic Information Visualization
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3.1: An Introduction to Basic Information Visualization (2 mins)
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3.2: How to Design an Information Visualization (17 mins)
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3.3: Visual Mapping – The Elements of Information Visualization (16 mins)
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3.4: How to Represent Linear Data Visually for Information Visualization (17 mins)
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3.5: Visualisation in Context (48 mins)
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3.6: Designing Visualisation (49 mins)
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3.7: Discussion Exercise (7 mins)
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3.8: Roundup – An Introduction to Basic Information Visualization (2 mins)
Lesson 4: Advanced Information Visualization
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4.1: An Introduction to Advanced Information Visualization (3 mins)
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4.2: Information Visualization – An Introduction to Multivariate Analysis (22 mins)
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4.3: The Principles of Information Visualization for Basic Network Data (19 mins)
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4.4: How to Display Complex Network Data with Information Visualization (16 mins)
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4.5: How to Show Hierarchical Data with Information Visualization (16 mins)
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4.6: Information Overload, Why it Matters and How to Combat It (46 mins)
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4.7: Information Visualization an Introduction to Manipulable Information Representations (21 mins)
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4.8: Information Visualization an Introduction to Transformable Information Representations (20 mins)
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4.9: Classic Visualisations: Single Attribute (1 hour 3 mins)
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4.10: Classic Visualisations: Multiple Attributes (46 mins)
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4.11: Discussion Exercise (7 mins)
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4.12: Roundup – An Introduction to Advanced Information Visualization (2 mins)
Lesson 5: Evaluation
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5.1: An Introduction to Evaluating Information Visualizations (3 mins)
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5.2: How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation for Usability in HCI and Information Visualization (22 mins)
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5.3: How to Conduct a Cognitive Walkthrough (22 mins)
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5.4: How to Recruit Users for Usability Studies (18 mins)
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5.5: How to Conduct User Observations (48 mins)
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5.6: How to Conduct User Interviews (42 mins)
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5.7: How to Conduct Focus Groups (23 mins)
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5.8: Discussion Exercise (7 mins)
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5.9: Roundup – An Introduction to Evaluating Information Visualizations (2 mins)
Lesson 6: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
Learning Paths
This course is part of 1 learning path:
How Others Have Benefited
Phillip Dodson, United States
“I wanted to thank you! IDF is just the best thing ever. Just ever! Making this information accessible and available at the high level of quality. Just awesome!”
Mark Bertinetti, Australia
“The instructor explained concepts in a very clear manner and this made it easier to understand.”
Virginie Hermand, France
“There were many visual examples, good and bad, which are necessary for this specific field (Information Visualization) to understand the underlying concepts.”
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