ACTIVITY: Personal Data Dance
This is an edited version of an entry that was originally posted on the Digital Bridges to Dance website in 2018.
This activity is based on concepts from the book Dear Data by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec and a similar set of activities that I learned from Pamela Fellers in her class Data Stories at Grinnell College in fall 2017.
Personal data is information that you can collect about yourself through self-observation or with technical tools. For instance, if you counted how many different beverages you drank in one day, what the different drinks were and what time you drank each drink, then you would have collected personal data. Collecting data about yourself can not only bring you to a greater level of self-awareness or awareness of your environment, but it can also strengthen your observational powers, depending on whether or not you use digital tools, like mobile apps, for assistance.
Pick a theme. Choose a theme that you want to collect personal data on, like “time” or “movement”. Now form a question about yourself dealing with your theme that can be answered through observation and data collection. For instance, “How many times do I check what the time is, and what time is it when I check?” or “What are the different types of movement I perform and where do I perform them?”.
Pick a time frame. Choose a time frame for which will collect observational data. Your time frame can be as long or as short as you would like.
Collect your data. Collect personal data to investigate your question for the time frame you have agreed upon. Pick a method of collection that works best for you. Some examples of possible methods are carrying a small notebook to write observations, carrying a pen to draw tally marks on your arm, or using a mobile app that monitors your body. All of these methods are valid, but choose the collection method that best serves you and the question you wish to answer.
Clean your data. Data cleansing is the process of finding inaccurate or corrupt information in your records and choosing to correct or delete the information. Look through your personal data for any mistakes or discrepancies. Was there a section during your time frame where you stopped gathering data? Did you make an observational mistake while collecting? Remove or correct and wrong information.
Create a visual display. Create a postcard display for your data. On one side of your postcard create a visual representation for your data. You can use classic graphs (bar graph, line graph, pie chart, etc.), draw a picture, chart a map, or any other method. Get creative. Analyze your data while you do this and ask yourself questions. What did you expect? What surprises you? Are there any patterns? On the other side of your postcard, create a key explaining your visual. This is a postcard template.
Dance your data. Perform a physical response to your personal data.
Works Referenced:
The Dear Data Project: http://www.dear-data.com/theproject
Lupi, Giorgia, et al. Dear Data. Princeton Architectural Press, 2016.