CS-GY 6313: Information Visualization - Fall 2025
Instructor: Claudio Silva (csilva@nyu.edu) TA (Labs): Ryan Kim (rkim.dev) Grader: Hashmmath Shaik (hs5544@nyu.edu) Meeting Times: Fridays 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM Classroom: Jacobs Hall, Room 215, Brooklyn Campus
| Course Syllabus | Detailed Schedule | Resources |
Announcements
Week 7 Materials Ready (Oct 16): Interaction in Visualization lecture is now available! Covers Shneiderman’s Mantra, the 12 interactive dynamics taxonomy, and modern interaction frameworks. See slides.
Week 6 Materials Ready (Oct 10): Group Projects lecture is now available! Form teams by Oct 17, proposal due Oct 20. See slides for full details.
Course materials will be posted as the semester progresses
Upcoming Classes
Week 1 (Sept 5) - Introduction and Evaluation
Slides: Course Introduction & Syllabus Lab: Observable & Vega-Lite - Topics: Course overview, What is visualization?, Evaluation frameworks
- Lab: Setup Observable accounts, Create first Vega-Lite charts
- Assignment: Exercise 1 - Visualization critique and basic Vega-Lite charts (due Sept 11)
- Readings: Card & Mackinlay (1999) - Using Vision to Think
Week 2 (Sept 12) - Analytical Questions and Data Transformation
Slides: Analytical Questions and Data Transformation Lab: Intro to Vega-Lite Data Transformations… - Topics: Visual queries, Data types, Transformation operations
- Lab: Vega-Lite data transformations, Working with real datasets
- Assignment: Exercise 2 - Data questions and transformations (due Sept 18)
- Readings: Shneiderman (1996) - The Eyes Have It; Wickham (2014) - Tidy Data
Week 3 (Sept 19) - Fundamental Graphs and Visual Encoding
Slides: Fundamental Graphs and Visual Encoding Lab: Fundamental Graphs and Visual Encoding - Topics: Five fundamental chart types, Marks and channels, Expressiveness and effectiveness, Scale choices
- Lab: Chart comparison and design exercises, Scale choice scenarios
- Assignment: Exercise 3 - Chart design and encoding alternatives (due Sept 25)
- Readings: Tufte Ch 1-2 (Graphical Excellence & Integrity)
Week 4 (Sept 26) - Visual Perception and D3 Foundations
Slides: Visual Perception and D3 Foundations Lab: First D3 programming session, DOM manipulation, Data binding - Topics: Pre-attentive processing, Gestalt principles, Perceptual accuracy, D3.js introduction
- Lab: First D3 programming session, DOM manipulation, Data binding
- Assignment: Exercise 4 - Perception-based design + D3 implementation (due Oct 2)
- Readings: Franconeri et al. (2021); Kennedy Elliott - 39 Studies
- Optional Reference: Visual Thinking for Information Design (2nd Ed.) by Colin Ware - Chapters on perception
Week 5 (Oct 3) - Color Theory and D3 Scales
Slides: Color Theory and D3 Scales Lab: Color scale exercises, Choropleth maps, Accessibility testing - Topics: Color perception (biology/physics), Color spaces (RGB, HSL, LAB), Sequential/diverging/categorical scales, Color accessibility, D3 scale implementation
- Lab: Color scale exercises, Choropleth maps, Accessibility testing
- Assignment: Exercise 5 - Color scale design and implementation (due Oct 9)
- Required Readings:
- Which Color Scale to Use - Lisa Charlotte Rost
- Modeling Color Difference - Szafir (2018)
- D3 Scale Chromatic - Observable notebook
- Optional Reference: Visual Thinking for Information Design (2nd Ed.) by Colin Ware - Chapters on color
Week 6 (Oct 10) - Group Projects and Design Ethics
Slides: Group Projects Lab: Intro to Interactions and Deceptive Visualizations - Topics: Group project overview, 5 milestones (Proposal through Final), Team formation, Dataset selection, Deceptive visualization and ethics
- Lab: Team formation activities, Dataset exploration, Project brainstorming
- Action Items:
- Form teams by Oct 17 (use Discord #project-teams)
- Browse datasets for project ideas
- Exercise 6 - Misleading vs. honest visualization (due Oct 16)
- Project Proposal due Oct 20
- Required Readings:
- Tufte Ch 2 - Graphical Integrity
- Misinformed by Visualization - Lo, Gupta & Shigyo (EuroVis 2022)
Week 7 (Oct 17) - Interaction in Visualization
Slides: Interactivity in Information Visualization Lab: Building Interactive Visualizations - Topics: Why interaction matters, Shneiderman’s Mantra, 12 interactive dynamics (Visualize, Filter, Sort, Derive, Select, Navigate, Coordinate, Organize, Record, Annotate, Share, Guide), Modern interaction frameworks (Libra)
- Lab: Interactive D3 techniques, Brushing and linking, Dynamic queries
- Assignment: Exercise 7 - Interactive visualization design and implementation (due Oct 23)
- Required Readings:
- Recommended Readings:
Assignments
Exercises (35% of grade)
- Exercise 1: Visualization critique and basic Vega-Lite charts - Due Sept 11
- Exercise 2: Data questions and transformations - Due Sept 18
- Exercise 3: Chart design and encoding alternatives - Due Sept 25
- Exercise 4: Perception-based design + D3 implementation - Due Oct 2
- Exercise 5: Color scale design and implementation - Due Oct 9
- More exercises TBA
Mini-Projects (35% of grade)
- Mini-Project 1: Geographic data visualization - Details TBA
- Mini-Project 2: Temporal data visualization - Details TBA
- Mini-Project 3: Network data visualization - Details TBA
Group Project (25% of grade)
- Milestone 1: Project Proposal - Due Oct 20
- Milestone 2: Data Analysis & Sketches - Due Nov 3
- Milestone 3: First Draft (D3 implementations) - Due Nov 17
- Milestone 4: Second Draft (Complete article) - Due Dec 1
- Milestone 5: Final Submission & Presentations - Due Dec 8 (Presentations Dec 5 & 12)
Quick Links
- Discord: Join Course Discord
- Brightspace: [Course materials and submissions]
- Observable: [Create account at observablehq.com]
- Office Hours:
- Ryan Kim (TA): Wednesdays @ 2-3pm, 8th floor common area @ 370 Jay Street, Brooklyn (also Online @ Zoom)
- Hashmmath Shaik (Grading TA): Mondays @ 1-2pm, only Online @ Zoom