A Measured Mindset is a Leak-Defying Feat
Clean Insights Extraordinaire Blog Series, Post No. 1
“Data is the beginning of a story, not the end. And should be seen as a starting point, for questioning and understanding the world around us.”
In light of launching the Clean Insights Symposium Extraordinaire this month, we are warming up our minds on data! Check out this incredible project by Giorgia and Stefanie. For one year, they sent postcards back and forth. Each with a data set from their week. It became a year long ‘slow data’ transmission. It’s incredible! Today, we’re encouraging you to try such a feat for yourself!
today’s activity
Make your own Dear Data Postcard
1 day
Individual
Postcards sent during the Dear Data project. Photo Credit: Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec
This is an individual activity inspired by the Dear Data project. You may want to recruit your kids, partner or roommate when it comes time to creating your visualization and legend.
Materials
paper
pens or markers
brain space
Instructions
1
Observe
Think of something you do daily that you’d like to share with another. It could be anything from looking in the mirror, to eating ice cream, the amount of time you spend scrolling through instagram, or how often you say “I love you.”
2
Collect
Find a way to track this activity for a whole day. Be as granular as you’d like. You may choose to track only the # of times you do it, or you may want to include where you were, the amount of time you spent doing it, or any behavior that altered because of it.
3
Draw
Once you’ve captured your data points create a visualization to display your data and tell your story. Be as creative as you’d like. Don’t forget to add the date.
4
Make a Legend
Explain to your friend how to read the visualization you’ve created.
5
Share your Visualization
Sharing is optional, but we want to celebrate our creativity and intentionality behind data collection and discover together what insights we gain by collecting and sharing data sets with others. Please consider sharing a picture of your Dear Data visualization and legend one of the following ways:
Upload your photo in the riot discussion channel: #cleaninsights-discussion:matrix.org
Share a post on twitter and tag @guardianproject #cleaninsights
Send your photo to Okthanks via signal +1 209.396.5087
Send an email to tiffany@okthanks.com
Get more inspiration from Giorgia’s website: http://giorgialupi.com/dear-data
Postcards sent during the Dear Data project. Photo Credit: Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec
Relevant Resources
Article: “Can you get to know a person through data alone?” The Guardian, the Observer
Article: "How two pen pals learned about each other through data mapping" Vice - Motherboard
Article: "Dear Data: The Designers who turned Daily Habits into Art" BBC Culture