What is this class and why? (or, “will you like this class?”)
I want to be upfront about what this class is. I want to get your expectations in the right place. If you’re expecting something else, you may be disappointed. And I think it helps you appreciate why I am teaching the way that I am teaching.
From the announcement:
This class is more about what pictures to make to understand data than how to make them. We will spend a lot of time understanding design principles. We will not spend lots of time talking about how to program visualizations, or how to use tools to make visualizations.
Or, to explain it another way:
Making visualizations isn’t hard. Making good visualizations is hard. So we need to understand what makes for a good visualization before we waste our time trying to make visualizations. This class is about understanding good visualizations.
Why focus on “Visualization Principles” not implementation?
The principles of good visualization apply for everyone. For each person, the appropriate tools and development process may be different.
The principles of good visualization are constant and unchanging (although, our understanding of them is improving). The tools for creating visualizations change continually.
The skills for thinking about visualization principles (design, critique, task-oriented analysis, abstraction, …) are generally useful for many things. The skills for creating visualizations are pretty specific.
Over the years, I think I’ve learned to teach people the principles. For for many of the implementation skills (e.g., web development), many of you either already know a lot more than me (i.e., you are up-to-date web developers) or aren’t at a place on the learning curve where a class like this will help (i.e., you need to learn basic web programming skills first).