Architecture, Design and Planning
Unit of Study Outline
DECO3100 Information Visualisation
Design Studio
Semester 1, 2020 | 12 credit points
Unit Coordinator: Somwrita Sarkar
email:
consultation hours: Thursdays 10-11am, Rm 275, Wilkinson Building
Coordinator: Somwrita Sarkar,
Tutors:
Rohann Dorabjee,
Drew Cosgrove,
John Antonios,
Rashi Shrivastava,
Lectures: Mondays 9-10 am, Eastern Avenue Lecture Theatre 315
Tutorials: Mondays 10-12 pm, Wilkinson 261, 262, and 269 Computing Studios
Studios: Mondays 1-4 pm, Wilkinson 261, 262 and 269 Computing Studio
• Introduction
The field of information visualisation focuses on how data can be effectively represented and meaningfully
communicated to people, in interactive and automated ways. The unit of study introduces the principles of
information visualisation design, with special attention to aesthetic communication of data, data analytics, and
user engagement. Key concepts covered in this unit include: abstract data visualisation; data acquisition; and
parsing and processing of data. Using a combination of vector graphics software tools such as Adobe Illustrator
and programming languages for processing data, students will develop information visualisations of real-world
datasets that are both communicative and engaging. The unit will equip students with the skills to produce
static as well as web-ready interactive data visualisations.
This unit is a core unit in the Bachelor of Design Computing program. It involves 6 hours of class time per
week: 1 hour lecture, 2 hours tutorials, and 3 hours of studio time.
Architecture, Design and Planning
• Schedule
All assessments are due 11:59 pm of the noted date. The lecture and tutorial schedule is
updated each week – please look for the most updated version on Canvas.
Week
Date
Lectures Tutorials Studios Assessment
Tasks
1
24 Feb
2020
Lecture 1: Unit Overview, Context, Why, How of Information Visualisation.
Tutorial 1: Design Activity – Explorations of Info Vis around Campus
Studio 1: Assessment 1 overview, and submissions to Canvas of the campus exploration design activity
Assessment 1 out
2
02 Mar
2020
Lecture 2: Visual Communication and Storytelling Tutorial 2: Bar Chart tutorial and HeatMaps Studio 2
3
09 Mar
2020
Lecture 3: Data and Visual Encoding Tutorial 3: Slopegraph Tutorial – Line chart/Scatter Plot tutorial
Studio 3
4
16 Mar
2020
Lecture 4: Explorartory Data Analysis Tutorial 4: 5 Number summary, Box and Whisker with Outliers Studio 4: Introducing Assignment 4 – getting into groups. Assessment 1 in (15 Mar 2020), Assessment 2 out
5
23 Mar
2020
Lecture 5: The Big List of 20 No Nos Part 1 Tutorial 5: Data Wrangling – VS Code Studio 5: Storytelling with Data exercise
6
30 Mar
2020
Lecture 6: The Big List of 20 No Nos Part 2 Tutorial 6: Introduction to Gephi Studio 6: Zoom meeting discussion
7
6 Apr
2020
Lecture 7: More Complex info vis – Multidimensional data, Networks
Tutorial 7: Introduction to QGIS and drawing choropleth Map – Part 1
Studio 7: General Feedback from A1. Master Document on Assignment 2.
Mid-semester break (22 Apr 2019, no class)
8
20 Apr
2020
Lecture 8: Maps and Geospatial data Tutorial 8: Introduction to QGIS and drawing choropleth Map Part 2
Studio 8: Introduction to Assignment 3 – PDF with library uses. Assessment 2 in (19 Apr 2020), Assessment 3 out
9
27 Apr
2020
Lecture 9: Data visualisations for the Web. Tutorial 9: Refresher on HTML, CSS and JS. SVG and Canvas. Studio 9: Creating an SVG artwork with JS – Showing how arrays and objects work.
10
04 May
2020
Lecture 10: Interaction in Data Visualisation Tutorial 10: JS for Data Vis Studio 10: Creating a static visualisation with a JS library.
11
11 May
2020
Lecture 11: Animation in Data visualisations Tutorial 11: Adding interaction and animations in Visualisations
Studio 11: Creating an interactive and animated visualisation with JS
12
18 May
2020
Lecture 12: Guest Lecturer – John Aldre Jota Tutorial 12: Q A – Workshop for assignment 3 Studio 12: Live Q A – Workshop for assignment 3
Architecture, Design and Planning
13
25 May
2020
No lecture Student Presentations Students Presentations Assessment 3 in (24 May 2019)
• Assessment Tasks
Total number of assessment tasks: 4
The 3 assessments together account for 90 marks. 10 marks are reserved for tutorial submissions
and are awarded on a pass/fail basis. You will see that the assessments build up – the second one
uses the structure in the first one, then adds a bit extra, and so on.
(1) Assessment title
Static Visualisation Design
Assessment description
Choose a small data set, and design a static visualisation. Write a one page summary (no more than
2-3 paragraphs) rigorously justifying your design choices. Use Excel and Adobe Illustrator to design
the visualization. The visualization should be submitted as an A4 sized pdf, followed by the
justification paragraphs.
Marking Criteria:
Marks will be assigned on the following breakdown, fractional marks may be awarded on each
dimension:
Criteria/Learning
outcome
Maximum marks Description
Design skills in
correctly designing
and formatting all parts
of a visualisation
5 In the A4 pdf, are Title, Axes, Legends, Data Sources, and
all detailed parts of a visualisation present? Have all
elements of a graph/visual been included properly? How
effectively and clearly does the title explain the story? How
effectively does the placement of the parts of the graph(s)
communicate overall meaning?
Design skills required
to develop an
information
visualisation prototype
using real-world
datasets, using
existing visual
graph/chart types, and
the ability to develop
new visual
representations based
on data
5 Is there evidence of a good and clear usage of standard
graph types? Is there evidence of new work on a standard
graph type? How clearly is the main message being
communicated visually? How clear is the visual map
between the data and representation?
Reasoning skills to
provide justification
and design rationale
for all aspects of a
visualisation
5 Justification: A clear strong concept, responding to the
brief. Rigorous justification provided for visualisation
design.
Programming skills,
technical skills on tools
and programming
languages required to
successfully produce
final publication
standard infovis
5 Evidence for proper use of technical, visualisation and
design skills.
Architecture, Design and Planning
Assessment category and type
Submitted work Assignment, design
Individual or group:
individual
Length / duration
Submit an A4 pdf file with your visualization on Page 1 and your justification on Page 2,
YourName_unikey_A1_DECO3100.pdf.
Weight
20%
Due date time
15 March 2020, 11:59 pm
Learning outcomes assessed
1,2,3,5
(2) Assessment title
Exploratory Data Analysis
Assessment description
A primary aim of data visualisation is to answer questions from the data, and to negate or confirm
any hypotheses from the data. Exploratory data analysis helps in visual, non-statistical, non-
computational, non-mathematical ways to enable this aim. In this assessment, you will choose a
data set and you will pose a particular question, analyse the data using the exploratory analysis
methods covered in the tutorials and studios. You will then generate a final visualization, that brings
out the affirmation or the negation of your hypothesis, based on your data analysis. Please refer to
the template that is provided alongside on Canvas.
You will do the following:
1. Choose a particular domain and a data set that you are interested in.
2. Pose an initial question, and then refine it.
3. Conduct exploratory analysis and report on it.
4. Produce a final visualization answering the posed question.
The exploratory analysis process will be covered in detail in class.
Submit a 2-5 (single) A4 page report as a pdf, using only 11pt font (Times or similar) or 10 pt font
(Arial, Helvetica or similar) reporting on the Exploratory Data Analysis process, and then finally
concluding with how you answered the question you posed.
Work that does not demonstrate satisfactory achievement of one or more of the
learning outcomes assessed.
Assessment Results and Feedback
Assessment results and feedback will be provided within 2-3 weeks of the submission date.
• Readings and Electronic Resources
There are two textbooks used for this unit of study, and we will be heavily using them for the unit. It
is expected that you will read these and work your way through the chapters, especially using the
learning in your assessments. These are electronically available through the library:
- Knaflic, C.N. (2015). Storytelling with data, Wiley.
- Murray, S. (2017) Interactive Data Visualisation for the Web, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly.
• Aims and Learning Outcomes
The aim of this unit of study is to teach students to successfully work with data and design
visualisations that enable expressive and effective communication of meaning.
After successful completion of this unit of study, students will have acquired:
1 Design skills in correctly designing and formatting all parts of a visualisation
2 Design skills required to develop an information visualisation prototype using real-world
datasets, using existing visual graph/chart types, and the ability to develop new visual
representations based on data
3 Reasoning skills to provide justification and design rationale for all aspects of a
visualisation
4 Analytical skills on basic statistical and mathematical concepts for exploratory and
explanatory data analysis and visualisation
5 Programming skills on tools and programming languages required to successfully
produce final publication standard infovis
Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning
These learning outcomes support your development of the University’s graduate qualities. You can
read about the qualities of University of Sydney graduates in the Learning and Teaching Policy 2015,
which can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=
PDOC2015/401RendNum=0.
• Learning and Teaching Policies
Penalties for late submission of work and related policies are included in the Resolutions of the
University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, which are available at
http://sydney.edu.au/handbooks/architecture/rules/faculty_resolutions.shtml. It is your
responsibility to familiarise yourself with these policies. Applications for special consideration must
be lodged online at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/special_consideration/apply.shtml.
Academic honesty is very important to the University of Sydney. You are responsible for ensuring
that all of your University work is academically honest. Visit http://sydney.edu.au/policies/
showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2012/254RendNum=0 to read the University of Sydney Academic
Honesty in Coursework Policy. To foster academic honesty, the University uses Turnitin® as
similarity detecting software. You should note that all of assignments submitted in this unit of study
may be submitted to similarity detecting software. An online Academic Honesty Education module
and Learning Centre workshops are available to help you learn how to avoid plagiarism. Visit
http://sydney.edu.au/elearning/student/EI/index.shtml to learn about these resources.
• Concerns About Teaching and Assessment
There is a three-step process to appeal an academic decision.
1. Informal appeal: approach the original decision maker to discuss your concerns about the
academic decision (e.g. your mark). University policy requires you to raise concerns within
15 working days of the academic decision (e.g. release of mark).
2. Faculty-level appeal: if you feel that your appeal has not been adequately addressed at the
informal level, you can submit a formal written appeal to the School of Architecture, Design
and Planning’s Academic Support Unit at . Your appeal should
include a letter outlining the grounds for your appeal and any evidence you have to support
your appeal. The Associate Dean Education or a delegate will assess the appeal and a formal
outcome will be sent to you in writing. University policy requires you to file a faculty-level
appeal within 20 working days of learning the outcome of the informal appeal.
3. University-level appeal: If you are dissatisfied with the findings of the formal appeal and
believe that due academic process was not followed, you can submit an appeal to the Student
Appeals Body within 15 days of receiving the outcome of the faculty-level appeal.
For more details on Academic Appeals, see:
http://sydney.edu.au/student_affairs/academic_appeals/process.shtml
There is a two-step process to complain about a non-academic decision.
1. Informal resolution: approach the person that you believe is responsible for the issue, explain
the problem, and ask that they behave differently.
2. Make a complaint: if a problem cannot be resolved through informal resolution, or if informal
resolution is not appropriate, you can refer your complaint to the Student Affairs Unit of the
University.
For more details on the complaint procedures, see:
http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2015/408RendNum=0
• Support Services and Resources
Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning
The Learning Centre runs many workshops on academic skills, free of charge to all students. Learn
more at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/.
The Write Site provides online support to help you develop academic and professional writing skills
and can be accessed at http://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/.
Disability Services is located on Level 5 of the Jane Foss Russell Building. For further information,
visit http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/disability/.
Counselling and Psychological Services is located on Level 5 of the Jane Foss Russell Building.
For further information, visit their website at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/counselling/.
The Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme is available to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students with their studies. To find out more,
visit https://sydney.edu.au/students/indigenous-tutorial-assistance-scheme.html.