Diana summed up into data

Diana Minji Chun
Nov 4 · 2 min read

In her blog, The point of Collection, Mimi Ounoha talks about the intention, bias, assumptions that surround the act of data collection. She argues that just picking which data to collect impacts the data set that one is attempting to ‘design’.

I thought about this for quite some time now, because as I learned how to speak another language. I notice that my mode of thinking was changing. Being able to ‘name’ something gave me how to compartmentalize and reference something. Data can have a similar analogy. Being able to make something into ‘data point’, changes how we think.

So if I were to collect data about myself, what kind of information would I collect? What does it mean?

Language: how much of my time is spent speaking English vs. Korean?

I think this will show what kind of culture I subscribe to. If I were to record how many English dreams vs. Korean dreams I have over the years, that would be interesting too.

Quantity and quality of my laughs, the reasoning for them

I am at my best when I can laugh a good laugh. I laugh when I am stressed out and need to relax, I laugh when I am with good people, and I laugh when I make a connection with cultures (mostly memes and show reference). It would be fun to see this data of my laugh. It probably would make me laugh and just that, might make it worth it.

How many design projects I do. what, who, how long, results (money, attention, self-fulfillment)?

A big part of my identity is my profession. I value myself in being able to think, design, and find creative pathways to go down on. This data would show how I have grown and where I might go.

Some other stuff

For the sake of Mimi Ornoha’s point, these data sets listed below might ‘especially combined, data sets reveal far more than intended’.

  • How many hours I sleep
  • What books I read- how many, topic and for what
  • Frequency of shower vs. bubble bath vs. full spa
  • How many glasses of wine I drink, when, how much I pay for it, and with who
  • How many personal hours I spend on my computer and phone
  • Where I am, what countries, and what cities
  • How many and how often I pet dogs (correlation to happiness, laugh, or ‘awww’ sounds I make?)
  • (By request of my friends and family) how many text messages and phone calls I miss or doesn’t answer.

Written by

Carnegie Mellon University, School of Design, Pursuing Master of Interaction Design

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