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Papers by Giorgio Caviglia

Proceedings of the fourth International Forum for Design as a Process. September 19-22, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil. EdUEMG (Editora da Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais).

This paper presents an ongoing research focused on understanding the role that design, especially... more This paper presents an ongoing research focused on understanding the role that design, especially through the definition of information visualizations and interfaces, can have within digital humanities research. A review of the current involvement of design within the digital humanities is provided and several projects, coming from a two-year collaboration within a digital humanities initiative, are then presented and discussed in detail, with particular attention to the design processes involved. Finally, a collaborative model for research is articulated, emphasizing the need for new hybridized forms of thinking and making between designers, scholars and computer scientists.

How does a parent choose the best school for their child? Dust is an ongoing research project dev... more How does a parent choose the best school for their child? Dust is an ongoing research project developed for Iridescent, an American NGO. The project’s aim is to provide a freely available, web based information visualization tool that supports parents in exploring and comparing the educational offerings (from Pre-K to High School) from selected major cities in the United States, currently: New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. By leveraging a step-by-step decision making process, Dust helps to evaluate and compare school profiles based on multidimensional data-sets composed of general information (e.g., enrollment, class size, number of teachers), school performances (e.g., subjects score and proficiency, attendance), and urban mobility (e.g., location, distances, transportation). Supported by geographical maps and close-up visualizations users can create custom profiles based on their needs and priorities and then perform a search for the most appropriate schools for their children. Dust aims to combine the capability of information visualization in depicting synthetic views of complex, multidimensional, and georeferenced data; with a rich, yet intuitive, web-user experience. The project aims to move away from a “by experts, for experts” design paradigm to a schools comparison information visualization “for the people” -providing real impact on their daily life, and future prospects, through improved choices.

Manual analysis of security-related events is still a necessity to investigate non-trivial cyber ... more Manual analysis of security-related events is still a necessity to investigate non-trivial cyber attacks. This task is particularly hard when the events involve slow, stealthy and large-scale activities typical of the modern cybercriminals’ strategy. In this regard, visualization tools can effectively help analysts in their investigations. In this paper, we present BURN, an interactive visualization tool for displaying autonomous systems exhibiting rogue activity that helps at finding misbehaving networks through visual and interactive exploration. Up to seven values are displayed in a single visual element, while avoiding cumbersome and confusing maps. To this end, animations and alpha channels are leveraged to create simple views that highlight relevant activity patterns. In addition, BURN incorporates a simple algorithm to identify migrations of nefarious services across autonomous systems, which can support, for instance, root-cause analysis and law enforcement investigations.

… (IV), 2010 14th …, Jan 1, 2010

In this paper we suggest a different approach that considers visualizations in the wider domain o... more In this paper we suggest a different approach that considers visualizations in the wider domain of communication and defines a model capable of taking into account the context in which visualizations act as communication tools. In this perspective we consider visualizations as transformation processes within the Data-Information-Knowledge (DIK) continuum. In the paper we discuss the continuum, and apply the transformation process model to the main disciplines of visualization. Visualizations represent powerful cognitive tools that surround our everyday life [1]. By doing this we are able to think about visualization from a multidisciplinary perspective, exploring the role of visualizations in design practice, as artifacts that are used in facing problems of various degrees of complexity and nature. The contribution of the model is mainly addressed to orientate and nurture the reflective practice and to formalize the strategic more than the technical role of visualizations in the design discipline.

The aim of the paper is to present the first results of the CityMurmur project and to discuss the... more The aim of the paper is to present the first results of the CityMurmur project and to discuss the potential of the tool in the description of the new shape of the media-city. CityMurmur aims to show how different media differently describe the urban space through a set of maps resulting from the intersection of news sources and the geographical reality of the city. In this context, cartography is taken into consideration not as passive representation of reality but as a tool for interpretation and action on the urban space. In the first part of the paper the concept and objectives behind the project are explained, the second part aims at providing a description of the CityMurmur Project, in the final part some preliminary results and case studies are discussed.

Development models often relate expert knowledge to social needs with a top-down approach, thus b... more Development models often relate expert knowledge to social needs with a top-down approach, thus being not able to cope with the issues of a complex world. Effective changes in social systems arise from iterative and dialogic processes in which information and knowledge are exchanged to build-up a common background that enables shared hypothesis.
Therefore the possibility to consciously face social issues and orient the behavior of complex social systems could benefit from the use of communicative tools and methodologies. Engaging complexity calls for visual languages. Based on complexity theories and assuming the interpretation of social systems as systems of communication and learning organizations, a didactical initiative has been experimentally launched in 2004 to answer the following question: How visualization and communication design can be applied to support collective learning processes and decision making in complex systems? After five years of continuous improvements and the development of specific conceptual and operative tools, a didactical framework has been defined with the aim of educating designers in the exploitation of visual languages to deal with social complexity. The potentialities of visualization are experimented in two complementary domains: 1) the visualization of Data, Information and Knowledge (DIK); 2) the visualization of the structure of complex social phenomenon (structural visualization). The paper describes the framework theory and outcomes. The didactical framework proposed here is a multidisciplinary platform, where visual design is the core and leading discipline, successfully complemented by the integration of semiotics, statistics and network science. There are plans to extend the relation and the experimental integration with other disciplines, especially with computer science (evaluating the impact of interaction design in the cognitive processes), semantics and sociology.

Social complexity requires new processes fundamentally attuned to the social and conversational n... more Social complexity requires new processes fundamentally attuned to the social and conversational nature of decision making and design work; they should tend to enable a more and more valuable interaction level and dialogue among the actors of a social system. Heeding the perspective of Design discipline dealing with languages, the Communication Design could afford the creation of visual and interactive languages relevant to the representations of Complex systems, creating shared visions within multi-actor contexts. In this sense it can facilitate dialogues within participatory actions and verify the potential of communication artefacts in supporting and externalizing sustainable and self-adaptive learning processes. Assuming this contribute of design in the multidisciplinary framework of suatainability, a didactic and research initiatives has been established since 2004 at the Master Degree in Communication Design at the Milan Polytechnic. Using complexity as a keyword to understand reality, combining it with a continuous research for information aesthetics and representation, DensityDesign explores the emergent relationships among communication design, information visualization and complex systems. The paper will discuss the relevance of this approach in dealing with the social issues and the data dimension, and the impact of this practice in the students' compehensive background.

Talks by Giorgio Caviglia

Proceedings of the fourth International Forum for Design as a Process. September 19-22, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil. EdUEMG (Editora da Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais).

This paper presents an ongoing research focused on understanding the role that design, especially... more This paper presents an ongoing research focused on understanding the role that design, especially through the definition of information visualizations and interfaces, can have within digital humanities research. A review of the current involvement of design within the digital humanities is provided and several projects, coming from a two-year collaboration within a digital humanities initiative, are then presented and discussed in detail, with particular attention to the design processes involved. Finally, a collaborative model for research is articulated, emphasizing the need for new hybridized forms of thinking and making between designers, scholars and computer scientists.

How does a parent choose the best school for their child? Dust is an ongoing research project dev... more How does a parent choose the best school for their child? Dust is an ongoing research project developed for Iridescent, an American NGO. The project’s aim is to provide a freely available, web based information visualization tool that supports parents in exploring and comparing the educational offerings (from Pre-K to High School) from selected major cities in the United States, currently: New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. By leveraging a step-by-step decision making process, Dust helps to evaluate and compare school profiles based on multidimensional data-sets composed of general information (e.g., enrollment, class size, number of teachers), school performances (e.g., subjects score and proficiency, attendance), and urban mobility (e.g., location, distances, transportation). Supported by geographical maps and close-up visualizations users can create custom profiles based on their needs and priorities and then perform a search for the most appropriate schools for their children. Dust aims to combine the capability of information visualization in depicting synthetic views of complex, multidimensional, and georeferenced data; with a rich, yet intuitive, web-user experience. The project aims to move away from a “by experts, for experts” design paradigm to a schools comparison information visualization “for the people” -providing real impact on their daily life, and future prospects, through improved choices.

Manual analysis of security-related events is still a necessity to investigate non-trivial cyber ... more Manual analysis of security-related events is still a necessity to investigate non-trivial cyber attacks. This task is particularly hard when the events involve slow, stealthy and large-scale activities typical of the modern cybercriminals’ strategy. In this regard, visualization tools can effectively help analysts in their investigations. In this paper, we present BURN, an interactive visualization tool for displaying autonomous systems exhibiting rogue activity that helps at finding misbehaving networks through visual and interactive exploration. Up to seven values are displayed in a single visual element, while avoiding cumbersome and confusing maps. To this end, animations and alpha channels are leveraged to create simple views that highlight relevant activity patterns. In addition, BURN incorporates a simple algorithm to identify migrations of nefarious services across autonomous systems, which can support, for instance, root-cause analysis and law enforcement investigations.

… (IV), 2010 14th …, Jan 1, 2010

In this paper we suggest a different approach that considers visualizations in the wider domain o... more In this paper we suggest a different approach that considers visualizations in the wider domain of communication and defines a model capable of taking into account the context in which visualizations act as communication tools. In this perspective we consider visualizations as transformation processes within the Data-Information-Knowledge (DIK) continuum. In the paper we discuss the continuum, and apply the transformation process model to the main disciplines of visualization. Visualizations represent powerful cognitive tools that surround our everyday life [1]. By doing this we are able to think about visualization from a multidisciplinary perspective, exploring the role of visualizations in design practice, as artifacts that are used in facing problems of various degrees of complexity and nature. The contribution of the model is mainly addressed to orientate and nurture the reflective practice and to formalize the strategic more than the technical role of visualizations in the design discipline.

The aim of the paper is to present the first results of the CityMurmur project and to discuss the... more The aim of the paper is to present the first results of the CityMurmur project and to discuss the potential of the tool in the description of the new shape of the media-city. CityMurmur aims to show how different media differently describe the urban space through a set of maps resulting from the intersection of news sources and the geographical reality of the city. In this context, cartography is taken into consideration not as passive representation of reality but as a tool for interpretation and action on the urban space. In the first part of the paper the concept and objectives behind the project are explained, the second part aims at providing a description of the CityMurmur Project, in the final part some preliminary results and case studies are discussed.

Development models often relate expert knowledge to social needs with a top-down approach, thus b... more Development models often relate expert knowledge to social needs with a top-down approach, thus being not able to cope with the issues of a complex world. Effective changes in social systems arise from iterative and dialogic processes in which information and knowledge are exchanged to build-up a common background that enables shared hypothesis.
Therefore the possibility to consciously face social issues and orient the behavior of complex social systems could benefit from the use of communicative tools and methodologies. Engaging complexity calls for visual languages. Based on complexity theories and assuming the interpretation of social systems as systems of communication and learning organizations, a didactical initiative has been experimentally launched in 2004 to answer the following question: How visualization and communication design can be applied to support collective learning processes and decision making in complex systems? After five years of continuous improvements and the development of specific conceptual and operative tools, a didactical framework has been defined with the aim of educating designers in the exploitation of visual languages to deal with social complexity. The potentialities of visualization are experimented in two complementary domains: 1) the visualization of Data, Information and Knowledge (DIK); 2) the visualization of the structure of complex social phenomenon (structural visualization). The paper describes the framework theory and outcomes. The didactical framework proposed here is a multidisciplinary platform, where visual design is the core and leading discipline, successfully complemented by the integration of semiotics, statistics and network science. There are plans to extend the relation and the experimental integration with other disciplines, especially with computer science (evaluating the impact of interaction design in the cognitive processes), semantics and sociology.

Social complexity requires new processes fundamentally attuned to the social and conversational n... more Social complexity requires new processes fundamentally attuned to the social and conversational nature of decision making and design work; they should tend to enable a more and more valuable interaction level and dialogue among the actors of a social system. Heeding the perspective of Design discipline dealing with languages, the Communication Design could afford the creation of visual and interactive languages relevant to the representations of Complex systems, creating shared visions within multi-actor contexts. In this sense it can facilitate dialogues within participatory actions and verify the potential of communication artefacts in supporting and externalizing sustainable and self-adaptive learning processes. Assuming this contribute of design in the multidisciplinary framework of suatainability, a didactic and research initiatives has been established since 2004 at the Master Degree in Communication Design at the Milan Polytechnic. Using complexity as a keyword to understand reality, combining it with a continuous research for information aesthetics and representation, DensityDesign explores the emergent relationships among communication design, information visualization and complex systems. The paper will discuss the relevance of this approach in dealing with the social issues and the data dimension, and the impact of this practice in the students' compehensive background.