“I Want More Nuance”: Investigating the use of Physicalizations to Facilitate Discussions

Authors

Emmanuel Courtoux (Inria, CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux), Nathalie Bressa (Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris), Samuel Huron (Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

Presentation

Session

Data, Meet Human: Vis That Cares

Time

Wednesday, Nov 11, 10:54 – 11:03 (US/Eastern) · session 10:00 – 11:30

Location

Hall America north

Keywords

Physicalization, input visualization, discussion, cit- izen meetings.

Abstract

We investigate how input physicalizations can support discussions in citizen meetings. Input physicalizations are physical data representations that allow data collection and can enable participants to externalize and represent their stances and arguments during discussions. We conducted an exploratory workshop in a citizen meeting with 24 participants. Participants first used and critiqued two provotypes during discussions and then designed new physical discussion tools in groups. Our qualitative analysis shows the role of expressivity of input physicalization discussion tools to convey nuances of participants' viewpoints. Our findings highlight the tension between the expressivity of input physicalizations and the need for structured data input to enable comparable and interpretable data visualizations. Finally, we discuss trade-offs for expressivity and polysemy in visual representations.

For Practitioners

Citizen meeting facilitators, organizers