Narrative Physicalization: Supporting Interactive Engagement with Personal Data.

Physical engagement with data necessarily influences the reflective process. However, the role of interactivity and narration are often overlooked when designing and analysing personal data physicalisations. We introduce Narrative Physicalisations, everyday objects modified to support nuanced self-reflection through embodied engagement with personal data. Narrative physicalisations borrow from narrative visualizations, storytelling with graphs, and engagement with mundane artefacts from data-objects. Our research uses a participatory approach to research-through-design and includes two interdependent, studies. In the first, personalised data physicalisations are developed for three individuals. In the second, we conduct a parallel autobiographical exploration of what constitutes personal data when using a Fitbit. Our work expands the landscape of data physicalisation by introducing narrative physicalisations. It suggests an experience-centric view on data physicalisation where people engage physically with their data in playful ways, making their body an active agent during the reflective process.