From Touch to Change: Understanding Public Engagement in Data Physicalization for Social Good

Paper Title

From Touch to Change: Understanding Public Engagement in Data Physicalization for Social Good

Publication Info

• Topic area: Public engagement in data physicalization for societal impact.
• Keywords: Data physicalization, public engagement, social good, participatory design, visualization, embodied interaction, community collaboration, design strategies, societal change.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Public engagement in data physicalization for social good (Phys4Good) has not been systematically examined as a design objective, leaving unclear what characterizes engagement and how it can be effectively designed.
• Significance: Understanding public engagement in Phys4Good is essential for fostering behavioral change and mobilizing collective support on societal issues such as environmental protection and public health.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research has explored data physicalization’s individual benefits and its potential for societal goals but lacks structured frameworks for public engagement. This paper builds on participatory and community-oriented practices to address this gap.

Solution

• Proposed approach: A design space and strategies for public engagement in Phys4Good, structured around a modified three-act framework: Stage, Encounter, and Impact.
• Novelty:
  1. Curated a dataset of 45 Phys4Good projects to study patterns and forms of public engagement.
  2. Developed a design space with 10 dimensions across Stage, Encounter, and Impact.
  3. Identified 18 design strategies to address challenges in fostering public engagement.
  4. Demonstrated the framework’s utility through a case study with iterative redesign.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  1. Curated a corpus of 45 Phys4Good projects from literature and real-world practices.
  2. Applied thematic coding to derive a hierarchical design space.
  3. Conducted semi-structured interviews with eight designers to identify challenges and strategies.
  4. Evaluated the framework through a case study involving prototype redesign.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Public engagement was characterized across 10 dimensions, including themes, audience, venue, data collection, design participation, encoding channels, interaction motivation, and impact types.
  • Identified three key challenges: difficulty attracting attention, hesitation toward contribution, and challenges in cultivating ongoing responsibility.
  • Proposed 18 strategies grouped into five categories: fostering collective connection, lowering barriers to participation, boosting motivation, employing public-friendly design, and addressing public concerns.
• Advantage over baselines: The framework provides actionable guidance for designing Phys4Good projects, enabling deeper public engagement and sustained participation compared to prior unstructured approaches.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Interviews with eight designers revealed recurring challenges and validated the utility of proposed strategies.
  • A case study demonstrated how the framework improved engagement mechanisms in a prototype, shifting design focus from representation to participation.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Corpus may not capture all relevant Phys4Good practices, introducing sample bias.
  • Reliance on qualitative coding limits empirical generalizability; audience perspectives were not directly captured.
  • Future work should expand datasets, incorporate audience feedback, and investigate long-term engagement impacts.

Summary

This paper systematically examines public engagement in data physicalization for social good (Phys4Good), addressing gaps in characterizing and designing for engagement. By curating a corpus of 45 projects, developing a design space, and identifying 18 strategies, the authors provide a structured framework for fostering public participation. A case study demonstrated the framework’s practical utility in diagnosing limitations and inspiring redesigns. The work advances visualization for social good into embodied, participatory domains, offering actionable guidance for mobilizing publics toward shared societal change.