As you may know, I am currently enrolled in a science and technology policy master’s degree program at Arizona State University. I took a Policy Informatics intensive with Dr. Erik Johnston earlier this year. It was a fantastic course that I highly recommend. We talked a lot about informatics and data literacy in projects that require public engagement. For my final project, I developed a short exercise to build a base of informatics literacy for public engagement efforts.

The project is called Data Cartomancy. I chose to write up the exercise in the style of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience Playbook, a book of plays and tools for community engagement. Since then, I have run the exercise a few times and presented it to various audiences. It’s still a work in progress, but I am happy to share what I have so far. If you run the exercise (or expand upon it), I would love to hear about your experience.

Here is the exercise:

Data Cartomancy

What it is and why it matters…

In policy informatics, there are informatics experts, and there are experts in the specific problem space or context. How can these two groups come together to generate situated knowledge? How can informatics help people discover their potential impact in a situation?

This card game exercise can help bridge the gap by growing data literacy. What do participants already know about their situation? How can they use informatics to relate better to their own lived experience?

Keep reading if…

If you are trying to use informatics, data visualizations, or data models to illuminate the lived experience of people without a high degree of data literacy, this play may help those people access and describe their intuitions and knowledge about a given situation while also beginning to develop some contextualized data literacy.

Definition and purpose

The Data Cartomancy exercise aims to surface what participants already know or suspect about a situation based on their lived experiences through the lens of data and informatics. During the exercise, participants will surface potential metrics and data to investigate or even commonly accepted statistics to question.

In addition to building a bridge between data experts and lived experience of the situation, this exercise also begins to build some basic data literacy skills in the participants. They may also become aware of biases they hold that might be relevant to the situation.

Time and timing

The Data Cartomancy exercise will likely be most helpful in the Initiation and Planning phases. However, it could easily be used in any phase to generate feedback and insights from constituents. The exercise is helpful after you have gathered the right people in the room. Data Cartomancy might be a good exercise if you have all the right people gathered but are unsure how to tap into the knowledge and experience those folks bring to the table.

The exercise is adjustable in length. In its most basic form, it takes about 30-45 minutes, depending on the group size during the readout.

Applicable conditions

This exercise exists on a spectrum from totally individual to group. As described in the Procedure section, the exercise starts with participants working individually and finishes with a group readout.

The exercise is ideal for participants who are rich in the lived experience of the situation or problem space but light on data literacy skills.

Procedure

Preparation: Print the card deck. Separate the graphics-only cards and the graphics + prompts cards. The cards are formatted to 3x5 in portrait orientation. You may also use the digital card grid, but keep in mind that participants may choose the same card.

Generate a question. Have each participant consider a question or concern related to the project or engagement. The participants should be encouraged to jot down notes or feelings as they attempt to generate a question.
Select a card. Have each participant draw a graphic card and place it in front of them face down. When all participants have a card, instruct the participants to flip the cards face up.
Generate first reactions. Participants should look at their cards and interpret what they might mean relating to their questions. Participants should generate a story or explanation for the card in their context. They may want to write down their initial reactions. As the participants generate their initial reactions, distribute the corresponding graphic + prompt card and place it beside the participant face down. Instruct the participants not to flip the new card until instructed.
Generate second reactions. Have the participants flip their second cards and read the prompts and facts. In light of the new information, participants should generate a new story or revise their original story.
Read out. Participants share their insights or stories with each other and with the project team.

Alternative procedures

This exercise can be easily modified. Here are some possible modifications:

Individual play: Draw a card when you feel stuck on a data visualization or modeling project.
Past, present, and future play: Draw three cards: representing past, present, and future. Place them all face down. Reveal them individually and attempt to develop a past story for the card, a present story, and a future story. Note: This is similar to a very basic tarot card reading.
Small group play: Participants work in duos or trios to generate a question and story. Small group play works great with the past, present, and future three-card approach.

Evaluation

The exercise has been successful if:

Metrics have been identified for investigation,
New questions and lines of investigation have been generated, or
The participants have gained a new vocabulary to relate to and describe their lived experiences.

Related Plays and Tools

Created Data Analytics and Visualizations for Shared Understanding

Resources

Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition. Bloomsbury Academic.

Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic Injustice: the Power and Ethics of Knowing. Oxford University Press.

Grossardt, V. (2021). “The Church of Work”. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/511165052

Perera, D. (2021, Nov). “questions concerning transition imaginaries towards a post-work society and the use of second-order design fictions as frames that resist consensus”. RSD10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357118013_Dulmini_Perera_2021_After_work_questions_concerning_transition_imaginaries_towards_a_post-work_society_and_the_use_of_second-order_design_fictions_as_frames_that_resist_consensus_In_Proceedings_of_Rel

Tygel, A.F., Kirsch, R. (2016). “Contributions of Paulo Freire to critical data literacy: a popular education approach.” The Journal of Community Informatics, 12(3), 108-121.

Access the card deck here: http://bit.ly/3HdbwCE

If you want to add additional cards, please request edit access or email cswetel@asu.edu.