CS 889 Advanced Topics in HCI: Information Visualization
Reading List
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