The correct and effective visual presentation of information is not only a fundamental aspect in the scientific and engineering field, but it represents a fundamental capability in the communication at large.
The course presents the fundamental theoretical and methodological knowledge to organize, process and visualize quantitative (mainly numerical) information. Moreover it provides the practical abilities to design and build visualizations by means of modern computer technologies, focusing both on traditional and web presentations. The course is taught in Italian.

Knowledge: the student, at the end of the course, will possess the basic concepts of the measurement theory, the theoretical aspects concerning the efficient organization and storage of digital information (using spreadsheets and open-data formats), the basis of the cognitive and perceptual aspects related to visualization, and the knowledge of the main visualization environments.
Abilities: the student will be able to define the methodological aspects, to design and build simple visualization systems for quantitative information. In particular, the effective and efficient use of such tools as spreadsheets, the creation of graphs for documents as reports and presentations, and the development interactive web visualizations.

The course requires a basic knowledge of mathematical analysis and programming, such as that provided by the Ist year courses. In particular the capability of writing simple programs is mandatory.

• Data interchange and storage formats (open-data, csv, xml, json) (0.5 cfu)
• Essential measurement and descriptive statistics (0.5 cfu)
• Visual communication (1.5 cfu)
• Basic tools: spreadsheet (1 cfu)
• Advanced visualization tools (Tableau, Qlik) (2.5 cfu)

The course consists of a theoretical part strictly intertwined with a practical one.
Laboratory experiences are planned for:
• electronic spreadsheets usage
• development with advanced tools

• Materials and handouts provided by the teacher
• Edward R. Tufte, 1983. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information." Graphics Press.
• Stephen Few, "Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten" 2nd Edition, Analytics Press, 2012
• Alberto Cairo, "The Functional Art: An introduction to information graphics and visualization", New Riders, 2012.
• Marijn Haverbeke, "Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming", 2nd Edition", No Starch Press, 2014
• Scott Murray. Interactive Data Visualization for the Web, O'Reilly Media, 2013

The exam will take place at the computer and consists in designing and developing a visualization starting from a case study.
It is possible, based on teacher’s judgment, the possibility to perform an additional individual work.