Ecowomanist Institute
interactive data visualization
to record data of my own life every day, analyze it, and determine trends that could be revealing about myself. The final dataset is then finally displayed in a manner that is personal, easy to understand, and - most important to me - FUN.
The challenge
Skills used
data visualization / interaction design
Prof. Melissa Kuperminc
SCAD Atlanta
Mentor
Spring 2023
Completed
Emotionally Charged: the process
(or: here's everything I did to charge my emotional battery all the way to 100%)
Gathering data on my own life was...quite the task (and a little depressing, because I began to feel as though my days were quite mundane). First I simply logged my daily data in excel sheets, and then I began to categorize and color code it based on patterns I saw in my own moods.
I tracked my own energy levels, the emotions I felt correspondingly, and what I might have done or experienced that might have caused the change. What I discovered surprised me — and it might just surprise you, too!
Emotionally Charged is the study of my own energy battery levels over a period of 45 days. As an (ahem) emotional person, I noticed that my battery levels rise and fall through the day, and it's largely dependent on my mood, which, in turn, is dependent on what I do through the day.
Although it's a little on the nose, I decided to make the basis for my data visualization a battery, which would house a summary of sorts. it would show my moods (based on color), the energy level I was at, and the day I felt that way.
I was heavily inspired by pixel art games (especially Pokemon Emerald, which I'd been playing a lot of at the time). It seemed like the perfect way to evoke a sense of simplicity and whimsy, which was definitely the tone of voice I was going with.
Going forward, I created a little avatar (a mini-me if you will) that served as my vehicle for my how I was feeling.
Slowly, without really meaning for it to, my product began to turn into a game of sorts, where you could go through my day, see how I felt, find out WHY I felt the way I did, and then arrive at my insights.
As I viewed the target audience of this project to be...well, me, I wanted to find a compelling strategy to keep me interested in this interactive experience. I wanted to create an experience that would keep me wanting to uncover every single day of my data.
I'm always looking for a way to make things fun, and making this experience a game seemed like the best way to do it!
Thanks for browsing!
