CS 889 Advanced Topics in HCI: Information Visualization

Week 1a: InfoVis Foundations I: Marks & Channels

• Read: Franconeri, S. L., Padilla, L. M., Shah, P., Zacks, J. M., & Hullman, J. (2021). The science of visual data communication: What works. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 22(3), 110-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/15291006211051956
• Read (optional): Bremer, N. (2025). Don’t think in chart types. In Chart: Designing Creative Data Visualizations from Charts to Art. CRC Press (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/) (p. 116 –129).
• Read (optional): Munzner, T. (2014). Marks & Channels. In Visualization Analysis & Design (ch 3). AK Peters / CRC Press (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/)

Week 1b: InfoVis Foundations II: Interaction Design & View Coordination

• Read: Dimara, E., & Perin, C. (2020). What is interaction for data visualization?. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 26(1), 119-129. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2019.2934283.
• Watch: Aisch, G. (2016). Data Visualization and the News. Information Plus Conference. https://vimeo.com/182590214
• Read (optional): Qu, Z., & Hullman, J. (2018). Keeping multiple views consistent: Constraints, validations, and exceptions in visualization authoring. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 24(1), 468-477. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2017.2744198

Week 2a: InfoVis Foundations III: Visualization Design Process: Data & Task Abstraction

• Read: Thorp, J. (2013). Visualization as process, not output. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/04/visualization-as-process
• Read: Meyer, M. & Fisher, D. (2018). Data Counseling, Exploration, and Prototyping. In Making Data Visual. O’Reilly Press (ch. 3)
• Listen: Nussbaumer Knaflic, C. (2025). What is Data Visualization. Storytelling with Data Podcast. https://youtu.be/je12xZghNdg
• Read (optional): Munzner, T. (2014). Data Abstraction. In Visualization Analysis & Design (ch 2). AK Peters / CRC Press (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/)
• Read (optional): Munzner, T. (2014). Task Abstraction. In Visualization Analysis & Design (ch 3). AK Peters / CRC Press (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/)
• Read (optional): Meyer, M. & Fisher, D. (2018). From Questions to Tasks. In Making Data Visual. O’Reilly Press (ch. 2).

Week 2b: InfoVis Foundations IV: InfoVis Research Contributions & Evaluation

• Read: Meyer, M., & Dykes, J. (2020). Criteria for rigor in visualization design study. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 26(1), 87-97. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2019.2934539.
• Watch: Offenhuber, D. (2025). Theories of Change in Visualization. Information Plus Conference. https://vimeo.com/1139123334?fl=pl&fe=sh#t=1m5s&end=12m34s
• Read (optional): Lee-Robbins, E., & Adar, E. (2023). Affective learning objectives for communicative visualizations. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 29(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2022.3209500
• Read (optional): Lam, H., Bertini, E., Isenberg, P., Plaisant, C., & Carpendale, S. (2011). Empirical studies in information visualization: Seven scenarios. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 18(9), 1520-1536. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2011.279.
• Read (optional): Isenberg, T., Isenberg, P., Chen, J., Sedlmair, M., & Möller, T. (2013). A systematic review on the practice of evaluating visualization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 19(12), 2818-2827. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2013.126.

Week 3a: Communicative InfoVis Design Space I: Annotation & Typography

• Read: Brath, R. (2020). Characterizing Text. In Visualizing with Text (ch 3, p. 43–78). CRC Press (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/).
• Listen (optional): Schwabish, J. (2022). Richard Brath talks about his book Visualizing with Text. PolicyViz Podcast. https://policyviz.com/podcast/episode-222-richard-brath | https://youtu.be/YNtQK4d5sUY
• Seminar: Rahman, M. D., Quadri, G. J., Doppalapudi, B., Szafir, D. A., & Rosen, P. (2025). A qualitative analysis of common practices in annotations. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2024.3456359

Week 3b: Communicative InfoVis Design Space II: Figurative Elements & Glyphs

• Read: Byrne, L., Angus, D., & Wiles, J. (2019). Figurative frames: A critical vocabulary for images in information visualization. Information Visualization, 18(1), 45-67. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473871617724212
• Watch (optional): Holmes, N. (2021). Otto and Gerd in the Chauvet Caves. Outlier Conference. https://youtu.be/UBgPWLYBi9Q
• Seminar: Ying, L., Shu, X., Deng, D., Yang, Y., Tang, T., Yu, L., & Wu, Y. (2023). MetaGlyph: Automatic generation of metaphoric glyph-based visualization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 29(1), 331-341. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2022.3209447

Week 4a: Communicative InfoVis Design Space III: Animation

• Read: Thompson, J., Liu, Z., Li, W., & Stasko, J. (2020). Understanding the design space and authoring paradigms for animated data graphics. In Computer Graphics Forum (Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 207-218). https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.13974
• Interact / Watch: Clark, D., Houston, R., Schaumeierm, J., & Smith, T. (2015). Shipmap. https://www.shipmap.org/
• Seminar: Lan, X., Shi, Y., Wu, Y., Jiao, X., & Cao, N. (2022). Kineticharts: Augmenting affective expressiveness of charts in data stories with animation design. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 28(1), 933-943. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2021.3114775

Week 4b: Communicative InfoVis Design Space IV: Narrative

• Read: Bach, B., Stefaner, M., Boy, J., Drucker, S., Bartram, L., Wood, J., Ciuccarelli, P, Engelhardt, Y, Köppen, U. & Tversky, B. (2018). Narrative design patterns for data-driven storytelling. In Data-Driven Storytelling (ed. Riche, N. H. et al, ch. 5, pp. 107-133). AK Peters/CRC Press. (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/).
• Read (optional): Segel, E., & Heer, J. (2010). Narrative visualization: Telling stories with data. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 16(6), 1139-1148. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2010.179
• Seminar: McKenna, S., Riche, N. H., Lee, B., Boy, J., & Meyer, M. (2017). Visual narrative flow: Exploring factors shaping data visualization story reading experiences. In Computer Graphics Forum (Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 377-387). https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.13195

Week 5a: Communicative InfoVis Design Space V: Ethics & Deception

• Read: Correll, M. (2019). Ethical dimensions of visualization research. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300418
• Read (optional): Pandey, A. V., Rall, K., Satterthwaite, M. L., Nov, O., & Bertini, E. (2015). How deceptive are deceptive visualizations? An empirical analysis of common distortion techniques. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 1469-1478). https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702608
• Seminar: Lisnic, M., Polychronis, C., Lex, A., & Kogan, M. (2023). Misleading beyond visual tricks: How people actually lie with charts. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580910

Week 5b: Communicative InfoVis Design Space IV: Critical Visualization & Visualization Criticism

• Read: DiSalvo, C. (2012). Revealing hegemony: Agonistic information design. In Adversarial Design (ch. 2, pp. 27 - 55). MIT Press. (ebook available via https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/)
• Read: Viégas, F. & Wattenberg, M. (2015). Design and Redesign in Data Visualization. In Malofiej 22, adapted for Medium: https://medium.com/@hint_fm/design-and-redesign-4ab77206cf9
• Seminar: Morini, F., Garretón, M., Pomerance, J., Zeissig, N., De Guenther, S., Thomet, F., Freybur, L., Kyriazis, I., Scholz, A., & Dörk, M. (2025). Critical Interactivity: Exploration and Narration in Data Visualization. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A). https://doi.org/10.1109/MCG.2025.3544684

Week 6a: Communication Modalities I: Dashboards

• Watch: Meeks, E. Third Wave Data Visualization. 2018 Tapestry Conference keynote. https://youtu.be/itChfcTx7ao?si=NYqk_V46b8qdRgcZ
• Seminar: Tory, M., Bartram, L., Fiore-Gartland, B., & Crisan, A. (2021). Finding their data voice: Practices and challenges of dashboard users. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A), 43(1), 22-36. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCG.2021.3136545

Week 6b: Communication Modalities II: Explorable Explanations

• Watch: Case, N. (2016). How to Simulate the Universe, in 134 Easy Steps. OpenVisConf. https://youtu.be/uc5rfTkLzlY?si=Y3Xm9rofMzRvkXln
• Read: Victor, B. (2011, revised 2024). Explorable Explanations. https://worrydream.com/ExplorableExplanations/
• Read / Interact (optional): Yee, S. and Chu, T. A visual introduction to machine learning. Part 1 (http://www.r2d3.us/visual-intro-to-machine-learning-part-1/) + Part 2 (http://www.r2d3.us/visual-intro-to-machine-learning-part-2/)
• Seminar: Boy, J., Detienne, F., & Fekete, J. D. (2015). Storytelling in information visualizations: Does it engage users to explore data?. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 1449-1458). https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702452

Week 6c: Communication Modalities III: Interactive Research Papers

• Read: Hohman, F., Conlen, M., Heer, J., & Chau, D. H. (2020). Communicating with Interactive Articles. Distill. https://doi.org/10.23915/distill.00028
• Seminar: Heer, J., Conlen, M., Devireddy, V., Nguyen, T., & Horowitz, J. (2023). Living papers: A language toolkit for augmented scholarly communication. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) (pp. 1-13). https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606791

Week 7a: Communication Modalities IV: Video

• Watch: Halloran, N. (2016). The Fallen of World War II. https://youtu.be/DwKPFT-RioU?si=Owtd2ErSUGf44c1S
• Seminar: Shen, L., Li, H., Wang, Y., Luo, T., Luo, Y., & Qu, H. (2025). Data playwright: Authoring data videos with annotated narration. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2024.3477926

Week 7b: Communication Modalities V: Live Presentations

• Watch: Rosling, H. (2006) The best stats you've ever seen. TED Conference. https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen
• Seminar: Shin, M., Kim, J., Han, Y., Xie, L., Whitelaw, M., Kwon, B. C., Ko, S., & Elmqvist, N. (2023). Roslingifier: Semi-automated storytelling for animated scatterplots. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 29(6), 2980-2995. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2022.3146329

Week 8a: Collaborative Visualization I: Synchronous & Co-located

• Read: Mahyar, N., & Tory, M. (2014). Supporting communication and coordination in collaborative sensemaking. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 20(12), 1633-1642. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2014.2346573
• Seminar: Langner, R., Kister, U., & Dachselt, R. (2019). Multiple coordinated views at large displays for multiple users: Empirical findings on user behavior, movements, and distances. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 25(1), 608-618. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2019.2894567

Week 8b: Collaborative Visualization II: Synchronous & Remote / Hybrid

• Read: Schwab, M., Saffo, D., Zhang, Y., Sinha, S., Nita-Rotaru, C., Tompkin, J., .Dunne, C. & Borkin, M. A. (2021). VisConnect: Distributed event synchronization for collaborative visualization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 27(2), 347-357. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2021.3054894
• Seminar: Borowski, M., Butcher, P. W., Kristensen, J. B., Petersen, J. O., Ritsos, P. D., Klokmose, C. N., & Elmqvist, N. (2025). DashSpace: A live collaborative platform for immersive and ubiquitous analytics. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 31(10), 7034-7047. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2025.3537679

Week 9a: Collaborative Visualization III: Asynchronous

• Read: Willett, W., Heer, J., Hellerstein, J., & Agrawala, M. (2011). CommentSpace: structured support for collaborative visual analysis. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3131-3140). https://doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1979407
• Seminar: Kauer, T., Dörk, M., & Bach, B. (2025). Towards collective storytelling: Investigating audience annotations in data visualizations. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. https://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MCG.2025.3547944

Week 9b: Collaborative Visualization IV: Longitudinal / Input Visualization

• Read: Loukissas, Y. A., & Ntabathia, J. M. (2021). Open data settings: A conceptual framework explored through the map room project. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3479501
• Seminar: Bressa, N., Louis, J., Willett, W., & Huron, S. (2024). Input visualization: Collecting and modifying data with visual representations. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 1-18). https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642808

Week 10a: Immersive Experiences I: Situated / Mobile

• Read: White, S., & Feiner, S. (2009). SiteLens: situated visualization techniques for urban site visits. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 1117-1120). https://doi.org/10.1145/1518701.1518871
• Seminar: Patnaik, B., Peng, H., & Elmqvist, N. (2024). Vistorch: Interacting with situated visualizations using handheld projectors. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 1-13). https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642857

Week 10b: Immersive Experiences II: Physicalization

• Seminar: Bae, S. S., Zheng, C., West, M. E., Do, E. Y. L., Huron, S., & Szafir, D. A. (2022). Making data tangible: A cross-disciplinary design space for data physicalization. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 1-18). https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501939

Week 10c: Immersive Experiences III: Augmented Reality

• Read: Chevalier, F., Vuillemot, R., & Gali, G. (2013). Using concrete scales: A practical framework for effective visual depiction of complex measures. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 19(12), 2426-2435. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2013.210
• Seminar: Zhu-Tian, C., Su, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, Q., Qu, H., & Wu, Y. (2020). MARVisT: Authoring glyph-based visualization in mobile augmented reality. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 26(8), 2645-2658. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2019.2892415

Week 10d: Immersive Experiences IV: Virtual Reality

• Seminar: Lee, B., Brown, D., Lee, B., Hurter, C., Drucker, S., & Dwyer, T. (2021). Data visceralization: Enabling deeper understanding of data using virtual reality. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 27(2), 1095-1105. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2020.3030435