Our Stories, Our Data: Co-designing Visualizations with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

TL;DR

The findings emphasize the importance of involving individuals with IDD in the design process, demonstrating their capacity for data analysis and expression, and underscoring the need for a narrative and tangible approach to accessible data visualization.

Abstract

Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) have unique needs and challenges when working with data. While visualization aims to make data more accessible to a broad audience, our understanding of how to design cognitively accessible visualizations remains limited. In this study, we engaged 20 participants with IDD as co-designers to explore how they approach and visualize data. Our preliminary investigation paired four participants as data pen-pals in a six-week online asynchronous participatory design workshop. In response to the observed conceptual, technological, and emotional struggles with data, we subsequently organized a two-day in-person co-design workshop with 16 participants to further understand relevant visualization authoring and sensemaking strategies. Reflecting on how participants engaged with and represented data, we propose two strategies for cognitively accessible data visualizations: transforming numbers into narratives and blending data design with everyday aesthetics. Our findings emphasize the importance of involving individuals with IDD in the design process, demonstrating their capacity for data analysis and expression, and underscoring the need for a narrative and tangible approach to accessible data visualization.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: Overview of the workshop Aliens from the VisuaLand ("The Circle Story"). Our workshop comprised 6 tasks exploring three types of data. Tasks 1& 2 centered on how people with IDD visually depict data pertaining to themselves and their surroundings, particularly focusing on categorical data. Tasks 3 & 4 examined methods they employ to represent and manage time effectively, emphasizing time-series data. Tasks 5 & 6 were dedicated to integrating individuals into communities and uncovering their approaches to visualizing part-to-whole relationships within the data.
• Figure 2: Overview of the online workshop structure. The online segment spanned eight weeks, during which four participants paired up as data pen-pals. Each week, they met individually with a researcher via Zoom. These sessions involved sharing their own work, reviewing their buddy's work, and previewing the upcoming week's activity. Materials for authoring the visualizations were not provided.
• Figure 3: Overview of the in-person workshop structure. In the in-person session, 16 participants were grouped into tables of four, each accompanied by a researcher. Across two days, each table engaged in three activities daily, exchanging feedback on their work after each task. Materials provided included craft supplies, food items, and constructive materials such as LEGOs.
• Figure 4: Exploring data through hands-on activities. Participants in the workshop embraced a constructionist approach to data visualization, employing diverse materials to bring the data to life, and utilized isotype visualizations (e, f, g) to make data more concrete. Participants used candies to represent facial features (a) and utilized stick figures and pasta to symbolize the bond between themselves and loved ones (b). They crafted tangible pictorial essays (c) and favorite activity representations (d), using everyday objects to convey their experiences and emotions.
• Figure 5: Humanizing data through personal narratives. Participants were trying to attribute personal significance to the data, connecting it with their own lived experiences. They frequently integrated personally meaningful symbols, such as a heart, into their visualizations (a, b, c). They crafted characters and envisioned a complete scene as part of their Creative Selfie (d). They also developed a tangible narrative full of details depicting their week in the Pictorial Essay (e). They associated data points with emotional moments, capturing these sentiments in their representation of the Cats & Dogs comparison (f).