WHAT DESIGN CAN DO FOR THE PUBLIC
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WHAT VISUALIZING DESIGN DATA CAN DO!
FOR INFORMATION BREAKOUT SESSION HOSTED BY CROSSLAB
The cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam have recently initiated ‘Open Data’ projects. This is one example of data becoming more and more publicly available and accessible in real time. What could designers do in this era of ‘information overload’ and public data? Designers are editors of information. As such, they can make the public aware of certain issues. Data Visualization offers a new method for this purpose. Rendering complex data visual can provide insight into invisible processes, making us aware of certain patterns in our behavior. In this process, the role of the designer is of fundamental importance: for example, the dynamic data visualization of CO2 emissions expresses more than statistics or a bar chart.
This breakout session was hosted by CrossLab, platform for digital media at the Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University With: Alper Çugun, Gabriëlle Marks, Michael van Schaik, Bruno Setola, Aldje van Meer, Deanna Herst and students of Willem De Kooning Academy (Kris Soroka, Tijn de Kok, Romero Watamaleo, Stefan van Rijn), Rotterdam University. http://extra.wdka.nl/crosslab/
The breakout Visualizing Data showed the transformation of a dataset into visualized data. On Thursday, May 26, a CrossLab team conducted a survey among conference visitors. The central issue to be addressed: how committed are you as a designer? How social is your design? The questionnaire was based on three stereotypes of social and environmental awareness - ranging from naively involved to indifferently destructive. Hence, the visitors were confronted with questions like: Do you chat with or talk to people living in your street? When do you shut down your computer? Do you ever upload something online that is useful for others? Their answers were collected, processed and visualized. The metaphor of a planet represented their individual profile and level of involvement. The process resulted in a collective ‘data portrait’ of planets, a universe we would live in if it were up to the visitors of WDCD. On Friday, May 27, CrossLab hosted an introduction about data visualization, hosted by Aldje van Meer. Gabriëlle Marks and Deanna Herst revealed a tip of the iceberg of data visualization and discussed its potential for designers. Alper Çugun showed recent projects in Open Data, like the ‘Apps for Amsterdam’ contest. Finally, Bruno Setola talked about the process of data visualization - from questionnaire to planet - and unveiled the universe according to the visitors of WDCD.