Inquiry-Based Design

Lesson 24: Goodbye

Inquiry-based design and a farewell.

Objective

Final instructional lecture. Explore inquiry-based design as a framework for approaching data visualization work and prepare for the final project.

Outline

This concluding lecture brings together key concepts from the course and looks forward to what comes next for students. The session focuses on inquiry-based design, which refers to a wide range of viewpoints in data visualization that approach visualization through a series of questions. The lecture also provides guidance for final projects and offers resources for continued learning beyond the course.

Inquiry-based design

Why do some visualization artists talk about questions?

• Questions as framework: Using questions to structure and guide the visualization design process.
• Layered complexity: Building visualizations that allow users to explore at different levels of depth.
• User trust: Designing with confidence that users can navigate complex information spaces.
• Zoom in, zoom out, zoom part way in: Allow users to explore data at multiple scales and levels of detail.
• All roads lead to Rome: Design multiple pathways for users to reach key insights and information.
• Layer into complexity, trust your users: don't oversimplify. Instead, create scaffolding that supports exploration of complex datasets.

Featured article from Stamen by Nicolette Hayes (2023): "Data Visualization for Education: When Asking Questions is the Answer" emphasizes the value of designing visualizations that prompt inquiry rather than simply presenting answers.

Final projects

Exploring datasets and formulating research questions.

• Look at available datasets from the course manual.
• Choose a dataset to work with.
• Identify central questions that would be interesting to explore within the chosen dataset.
• Discuss questions with a partner to reinforce the inquiry-based approach.

Resources beyond the class

Places to continue learning and building skills in data visualization and interactive data science.

• Continuing education resources: The Nature of Code, Crash Course Sociology, Philosophy Tube, Eyeo Festival, Game Maker's Toolkit, Design Delve, Extra Credits, Digital Anthropology, and Refactoring Guru.
• Professional development: Guidance on how to continue building skills in data visualization and interactive data science.
• Community engagement: Encouragement to engage with the broader data visualization and creative coding communities.

Goodbye and reflection

The course is dedicated to my grandmother Barbara Berke, who taught how technology can help us become more human. The video contains a more detailed farewell to students.

Take Aways

Inquiry-based design treats questions as central to the visualization process, not just endpoints, enabling deeper engagement with data.

• Trust your users to engage with complexity when given appropriate scaffolding and multiple entry points.
• Multiple pathways to insight create more robust and accessible visualizations.
• The course concepts including four perspectives, accessibility, ethics, and game design principles provide a comprehensive toolkit for creating effective interactive data visualizations.
• Learning continues beyond the classroom through engagement with communities, resources, and continued practice.

Citations

[1] N. Hayes, "Data Visualization for Education: When Asking Questions is the Answer," Stamen, 2023. Available: https://stamen.com/data-visualization-for-education-when-asking-questions-is-the-answer/

[2] S. Lourterwasser and Crash Course, "Crash Course Sociology," Crash Course, 2017. Available: https://thecrashcourse.com/topic/sociology/

[3] A. Thorn, "Philosophy Tube," Philosophy Tube. Available: https://www.youtube.com/@philosophytube

[4] D. Shiffman, The Nature of Code, No Starch Press, 2024. Available: https://natureofcode.com/

[5] Eyeo Festival, "Eyeo Festival," Eyeo Festival. Available: https://eyeofestival.com/

[6] M. Brown, "Game Maker's Toolkit," Game Maker's Toolkit. Available: https://gamemakerstoolkit.com/

[7] J-M8, "Design Delve," Second Wind. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR2vQO_BHC0&list=PLUBKwq0XD0uc3-bC1m0IYvbdu8dEX4rd2

[8] Extra Credits, "Extra Credits," Extra Credits. Available: https://www.youtube.com/@extracredits

[9] H. Horst and D. Miller, Digital Anthropology, Routledge, 2012.

[10] A. Shvets, "Refactoring Guru," Refactoring Guru. Available: https://refactoring.guru/

License

This lesson is part of Interactive Data Science and Visualization and is released under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.