CPSC 547: Information Visualization, Sep 2021

Remember to reload the page, changes are frequent

Instructor: Tamara Munzner
First Class: Wed Sep 8 2021
Last Class: Wed Dec 1 2021
Time/Location: Wed 3-6pm, SWNG 207 FSC 2330
Office Hours: Wed 6-7pm in classroom. Or by appointment, in person (X661) or zoom - check my calendar and request a spot by email.
UBC Cal Page: CPSC 547
Canvas Page: 547 Canvas Page
Piazza Page: 547 Piazza (signup link) Please join Piazza, it's a main avenue of communication for this course!


This page: Jump to Current Day | Short Syllabus | Detailed Syllabus | Previous Versions
Other pages: Projects | Course Structure/Policies | Project Description | Video Production | Tools | Resources

Short Weekly Syllabus

  Week  

  Date  

  Async Read/Discuss   

  Sync: In Class  

  Due   

  1     Sep 8 Intro, Course Logistics Ex: Time Series
  2     Sep 15 Data, Tasks, Nested Model Ex: Abstractions
  3     Sep 22 Marks & Channels, Rules of Thumb, DSM Ex: Decoding
  4     Sep 29 Tables, LineUp, Bertifier Pitches Pitches due Wed Sep 29 noon
  5     Oct 6 Color, ArteryViz, RainbowsRevisited Ex: 2N/CP Groups finalized Thu Oct 7 8pm
  6     Oct 13 Networks, Abyss-Explorer, Geneaology Pre-Proposal Meetings
  7     Oct 20 Spatial Data, NecklaceMaps, Myriahedral Ex: Ballotmaps Proposals due Thu Oct 21 noon
  8     Oct 27 Polaris, IEEE VIS NO CLASS (attend VIS)
  9     Nov 3 Manipulate, Facet, ScalableInsets Ex: Handling Complexity
  10     Nov 10 NO CLASS (Reading Week)
  11     Nov 17 Reduce, (Project Updates) Project Peer Reviews Updates due Tue Nov 16 3pm
  12     Nov 24 Embed, TensorFlowGraph Post-Update Meetings
  13     Dec 1 Research Process
  15     Dec 15 Final Presentations 2-6pm Final Papers due Fri Dec 17 8pm


Detailed Syllabus

Syllabus tentative, final changes will be made by previous class (for readings). In weeks with required readings, your comments are due by Mon 1pm and your responses are due by Wed 1pm.

Required Reading:

Visualization Analysis and Design, Tamara Munzner (A K Peters Visualization Series, CRC Press, 2014) is the course textbook.

The UBC library has multiple ebook licenses so you can read it for free: library catalog page, EZProxy direct link.

To buy your own copy online, it's currently around US$77 new (with shipping) from amazon.com, on sale for US$72 directly from CRC Press, and CD$104 from amazon.ca. If you buy the hardcover book, you'll get the ebook version for free; you can also buy an ebook-only for less, or rent the ebook for even less.

All additional readings are research papers available online for free, links posted below. For digital library access from off-campus, use EZproxy with your CWL login through the UBC library.
EZproxy direct links: IEEE DL, Springer DL, ACM DL, JSTOR


Introduction Week 1: Wed Sep 8

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

Online Discussion: see Piazza posts @7 self-intros, @8 reading list, @9 Ch 1 comments

In Class Exercise: Time Series
Signup sheet: Signup

Further Reading


Data, Tasks, Nested Model Week 2: Wed Sep 15

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class Exercise: Abstractions (source: Bertini)

Further Reading


Marks & Channels, Rules of Thumb, Design Study Methodology Week 3: Wed Sep 22

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class Exercise: Decoding (source: Bertini)
Signup sheet: Signup

Discussion Pointers

Further Reading


Tables, LineUp, Bertin Matrices Revisited Week 4: Wed Sep 29

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class: Project Pitches

Further Reading


Color, ArteryViz, RainbowsRevisited Week 5: Wed Oct 6

Required Reading

In Class Exercise: 2Nums; Color (source: Pfister/Lex/Ortiz; Rheingans)

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

Further Reading


Networks, Abyss-Explorer, Geneaology Week 6: Wed Oct 13

Required Reading

In Class: Project Groups Meet with Tamara

Further Reading


Spatial Data, NecklaceMaps, Myriahedral Week 7: Wed Oct 20

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class Exercise: Ex: Ballotmaps
Followup reading: BallotMaps: Detecting name bias in alphabetically ordered ballot papers. Wood, J., Badawood, D., Dykes, J. & Slingsby, A. (2011). IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 17(12), pp. 2384-2391.

Further Readings

Pointers from Discussion


Polaris, IEEE VIS Week 8: Wed Oct 27

Required Reading

In Class: NO SYNC CLASS attend virtual IEEE VIS Conference (any two 90-minute sessions, post 1 comment per session)

Further Reading


Manipulate, Facet, ScalableInsets Week 9: Wed Nov 3

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class Exercise Ex: Handling Complexity
Followup reading:
Animation vs traces vs small multiples: Effectiveness of Animation in Trend Visualization. Robertson, Fernandez, Fisher, Lee, and Stasko. TVCG/InfoVis 2008.
EdgeMaps: Visualizing Explicit and Implicit Relations of Complex Information Spaces. Dörk, Carpendale, Williamson. Information Visualization 2012.

Further Readings


READING WEEK Week 10


Reduce, Project Updates Week 11: Wed Nov 17

Required Reading

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class: Peer Review

Pointers from Discussion

Further Readings


Embed, TensorFlow, Post-Update Meetings Week 12: Wed Nov 24

Required Reading

In Class: Post-Update Groups Meet with Tamara

Further Readings


Paper Writing and Research Process Week 13: Wed Dec 1

Slides: pdf, pdf 16up, keynote

In Class: Lecture, Evals


Final Project Presentations Wed Dec 15 2-6pm


Final Papers Due Fri Dec 17 8pm


Previous Versions


Permanent URL of this page is http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~tmm/courses/547-21
Tamara Munzner
Last modified: Wed Dec 1 13:50:30 PST 2021