USER EXPERIENCE AND DATA VISUALIZATION: TELLING STORIES WITH DATA 

The School of Visual Arts New York City

Metrics and Data Visualization II focuses on telling stories with data to promote social change and civic impact. Together, we translate data into powerful and engaging visual narratives to make complex political, economic, and social data accessible to the public. Exploring the use of data visualization, design thinking, and narrative building, students go through every step of creating effective data-driven storytelling tools.

This course is a hands-on and project-based studio supported by critical examinations of various case studies and weekly readings. Each class has lecture and lab components. The students are paired with individuals and organizations for their course-long digital projects. Each of these individuals and organizations has specific interests in advocating social good and acts as a mentor providing students the opportunity to gain real-world experience working with “clients.” The topics of the projects range from climate change to social inequalities. As a final deliverable, each student group design and implement an online visual story composed of data visualizations, maps, images, and text.