Paint me a portrait!
How I designed “butterfly” data badges for Data Visualization Society members
I am Ruta Gokhale, a designer, dataviz enthusiast, artist, chocolate chip cookie monster, and also a member of the Data Visualization Society (DVS). I was invited to design data portraits (or data badges) for the members of this community. It has been one of the most fun projects I have worked on. A special shout out to Elijah Meeks for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with him on this task.
For more reference, give this article a read. Here, Elijah talks about what are data-driven badges and why people love them.
When I think back to the first badge I ever used, I am reminded of my ID card pinned to my school uniform. Over time, this badge has evolved from a laminated ID to the number of followers on Instagram to a business card. I realize, all the badges, irrespective of their shape or form, represent me or information about me. My identity informs the badge, and the badge becomes my identity!
Based on different badges, we project different personas to the world. We exude personalities and allude to mannerisms that convey a different side of us when we interact with distinct sets of people. In short, our badges portray multiple identities across different communities, in spite of us being the same and unique individual.
Below is a collage of some things that represent my various personas or identities to the different people I know.
My Pinterest board represents me as an artist and a maker. My collection of fridge magnets tells the places I’ve visited and the adventures I’ve been on. My twitter bio is a digital identity I use for consuming information and communicating with people.
DVS is a community by data visualizers for data visualizers. People with varying levels of interest, skill, and passion are all a part of this group. When I had to design badges for members of this community, of course, they were going to be data-driven.
How to read data badges
To represent a person, I chose the motif of a butterfly. The metaphor of a butterfly fit perfectly, primarily for two reasons - a person’s skill set is multidimensional as the colorful appearance of a butterfly’s wings and a person’s growth is similar to a butterfly’s metamorphosis.
This visualization aims to give a holistic view of a person, rather than a resume-like picture. As a person evolves and their skill set changes, so will their badge.
Encodings used in badges
I designed these data badges, and Elijah Meeks helped me put this vision to life! To join DVS, you need to fill out a small survey. These responses were used to create data badges.
For these badges, three overall themes were identified - Data, Visualization, and Society. Color was used to encode a theme - green for Data, ochre for Visualization, and purple for Society. These colors belong to DVS’s logo. Different questions from the survey are based on either of these themes. Wings of the butterfly use colors to represent these themes.
The upper wing indicates a person’s skill set. There are nine questions in the survey that ask you to self assess your skill level. These questions are semantically grouped together and encoded with the same symbol. The self-reported skill level for each question is encoded by the number of symbols.
The lower wing represents your answer to the question - What do you think the most important issue in data visualization is? Based on all the collected answers, certain keywords were identified that relate to either data, visualization or society. A cumulative score for each category is calculated based on the keywords used in your answer. This score is relative and encoded using a shade of each color. In the absence of any keywords for a particular category, that part is colored grey.
The butterfly’s body has two data points. A person’s experience in the field of data visualization is encoded by the number of bands on the butterfly’s body. In case an answer isn’t provided, the tip of the body is highlighted.
A person’s location (based on timezone) is used to determine their continent and encoded by the color of bands. The bands are colored grey if an answer is not provided or orange if the location cannot be recognized.
Each one of us has unique experiences, so naturally, our badges will be one of a kind. I think these badges are a great way to acknowledge our differences. A community flourishes not because we all share similar identities, but because we can successfully celebrate these differences. The Data Visualization Society, as a community is so big and diverse, our differences in skill sets and perspectives could contribute to successful collaborations.
