Fabio Franchino, www.todo.to.it
16 – 19 July 2014
Overview
“The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures” Ben Shneiderman (1999). Data is everywhere. People and objects generate data constantly. Nowadays we are not just data consumers, but we produce a reasonable amount of new and raw information through the interaction with technological devices and the web. Working with this raw data can be difficult because they are not made for providing meaningful information. ‘Data Visualization’ helps to build significant representations of quantitative and relational information. The workshop is an exploration about the visualization techniques for communicating, delighting and telling something interesting. It focuses on the world of abstract information with the aim to discover meaningful and relevant messages.
Goals
With the help of the popular javascript library d3.js, participants will learn how to transform an opaque dataset into a structured representation which is the first step in order to get the sense of a data collection. They will learn the meaning of the different visual representation models, gathering the values as well as the drawbacks. The workshop will be project driven, thus participants will learn how to sketch, design and implement a data visualization project, starting from the analysis to the final representation, exploiting the nature of the web platform that allows fast iterations on prototypes.
Workshop topics
Wednesday 14.00 – 18.00
– Principles of Data Visualization
– Tools and paradigms to represent dataset
– The importance of the data structure
– Visual perception principles
– The web platform as rapid prototyping platform
Thursday 9.30 – 17.30
– Rapid prototyping as learning tool
– D3.js library introduction
– Find and prepare datasets
– Representation step by step
– Benefits of interactivity
– Animation techniques
– Preliminary visualization prototype
Friday 9.30 – 17.30
– Concept and design phase
– Sketching phase using d3.js
– Project implementation (aided)
Saturday 9.30 – 17.30
– Project refinements (aided)
– Final considerations on final results
– Further possible evolutions
Admission
The workshop is addressed to designer, programmers, amateurs and people interested in the data visualization field and in fast prototyping through the Web Platform.
Requirements
No specific skills are required, nevertheless a basic understanding on the web platform (HTML, CSS, SVG) is very welcome. Furthermore, a visual and creative exploration inclination is also welcome.
Gallery
Visit the flickr album.