Program Overview

Course Information

Course Details

The course TPD4167, Information Visualisation, is offered at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The course aims to provide an understanding of how information can be designed and presented to facilitate efficient and effective knowledge transfer and decision-making.

Course Content

Overview

The course covers the human sensory and cognitive systems, focusing on how different designs of information affect understanding. It discusses screen-based and other types of interactive interfaces as means to efficiently and unambiguously present information. The course is structured based on the sensory and perceptive human systems, including vision, memory, spatial ability, and visual thinking.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge

• The candidate can show the difference between well-known information visualization techniques, including their pros and cons in respect to types of data, functionality, adaptability, and scalability.
• The candidate can show how the cognitive and perceptive abilities of humans affect the possibilities of information visualization.

Skills

• The candidate can create concepts for information visualizations, taking into consideration specific data sets, users, technical platforms, and use context.
• The candidate can iteratively develop visualizations from early non-functional sketches through mock-ups to functional prototypes, making use of user feedback.

General Competence

• The candidate can compare different interactive visualization techniques to evaluate their feasibility for both generic and specific use.
• The candidate can analyze and provide creative criticism on specific solutions to visualize information.

Learning Methods and Activities

The course contains a number of lectures, a literature seminar, two practical exercises, a project work, and a written examination. The exercises and projects are done in groups.

• Literature Seminar: One or more students will be responsible for one chapter of the course book each and orally present the most important features, as well as suggest a number of questions for the written examination.
• Practical Exercises: Three week-long exercises will be given, which are to be solved in groups of 2-3 students. The results of the exercises will be discussed in class.
• Project Work: One larger project work based on some current research question, solving a practical visualization design problem, will be assigned to groups of 2-3 students. The results will be presented in a mini-thesis, a scientific poster, as well as an oral poster presentation.
• Written Examination: The theoretical content of the course literature and the lectures will be examined in a 3-hour long written examination.

Evaluation

If there is a re-sit examination, the examination may be changed from written to oral. It is possible to re-take only parts of the exam. If students want to improve their grades, they need to take the whole course again.

Specific Conditions

Admission to a programme of study is required, specifically Industrial Design Engineering (MTDESIG).

Required Previous Knowledge

The course is limited to students of the 5 and 2-year Master in Industrial Design and Master in Interaction Design.

Course Materials

Course materials will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

Subject Areas

• Interaction Design

Examination

Examination Arrangement

The examination arrangement is an aggregate score, with a grade given in letter grades.

Ordinary Examination - Spring 2026

• School Exam: Weighting 30/100, examination aids allowed (Code E), date and time to be specified, duration of 3 hours, using the Inspera Assessment exam system.
• Assignment: Weighting 70/100, date and submission time to be specified, using the Inspera Assessment exam system.

Re-sit Examination - Summer 2026

• School Exam: Weighting 30/100, examination aids allowed (Code E), duration of 3 hours, using the Inspera Assessment exam system. Place and room to be specified.
• Assignment: Weighting 70/100, using the Inspera Assessment exam system.