Because data visualization is so interdisciplinary, it’s a topic that brings people together from many fields and professions, from all around the world. There are so many resources available online that it can be overwhelming. Here are some not-required things you can do after this course to continue building your skills.
Posts By: Lisa Waananen Jones
Personal Visualization Project
In this final project, you’ll get to use data visualization skills from throughout the course to share information about a topic of your choosing. This is an opportunity to practice what you’ve learned and apply it to something you are curious or passionate about. You’ll first submit a very rough draft, and then submit a polished final product.
Lesson: Inspirations and Audiences
Data visualization is in a period of growth as a professional field, which means there are more tools and datasets available than ever before. It’s exciting, but can also become overwhelming or repetitive. To make the creative leap beyond the basics requires drawing upon personal inspirations and thinking about your audience. It means being open to feedback and rethinking assumptions about what works well.
Lesson: Trends and Innovations
Can photography be data visualization? Can interactivity happen without screens? Can the physical spaces where we live and our own selves become data dimensions? Let’s take a look at trends in data visualization, especially beyond two-dimensional paper and screens.
Visualizing Poll Data
In this assignment, you’ll create presentation slides showing the results from a recent national poll. This assignment is intentionally designed with loose instructions for practice completing a data visualization task independently from beginning to end.
Lesson: Storytelling with Data Dimensions
As we talk about interactivity, it’s a good time to review the concept of visual encoding and look at a few classic examples of motion and interactivity in data storytelling.
Lesson: Guided vs. Exploratory Graphics
A benefit of interactive graphics is that they allow viewers to explore or control the data to some extent. But do you let viewers explore on their own, or do you guide them through it?
Esri StoryMap Tour
In this assignment, you’ll create a guided interactive map using the Esri StoryMaps platform.
Lesson: Evolution of Visualization Technology
What exactly are interactive graphics made from? Pixels controlled by code, just like everything else we see online, but also the individual screens of users. And that means the rise of smartphones and mobile transformed interactive graphics in a couple of important ways.
Lesson: Sports Interactive Pioneers
Data visualization professionals usually get into the field because of a strong personal interest in presenting information that would otherwise be difficult to comprehend. However, there is plenty of debate about how to do this even among people with similar interests.