Subjectivity in personal storytelling with visualization

Thudt, Alice; Perin, Charles; Willett, Wesley; Carpendale, Sheelagh

doi:10.1075/idj.23.1.07thu

Article published In:

Information Visualization
Edited by Isabel Meirelles and Katherine Gillieson
[Information Design Journal 23:1] 2017
► pp. 48–64

Subjectivity in personal storytelling with visualization

Alice Thudt | University of Calgary, Canada

Charles Perin | City University of London, UK

Wesley Willett | University of Calgary, Canada

Sheelagh Carpendale | University of Calgary, Canada

In this article we explore visualization for personal storytelling and investigate techniques for communicating subjective experiences in personal visual narratives. Personal stories are often subjective and storytellers omit, make up, or embellish details to craft engaging stories or to communicate a perspective. As growing personal data collections allow individuals to leverage visualizations, we explore how personal visual narratives can express subjectivity. From an analysis of personal visualizations created by data enthusiasts, designers and artists, we collect techniques for deliberately expressing subjectivity during data collection, processing, visual encoding, and presentation. Our results prompt a discussion about the role and potential of subjectivity in personal visual storytelling.

Keywords: visualization, subjectivity, personal visualization, storytelling, personal narratives

Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 20 July 2017

https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.23.1.07thu

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