INTENTIONS
​
The Circle of Belonging is a spatial data visualisation project about cultural identity. This virtual exhibition space explores a growing data collection, highlighting trends about our sense of belonging to a cultural community based on our cultural background and upbringing. The participatory and immersive approach to this project is intended to bring together individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and encourage the growth of a community, in which the participants feel they belong to.
MOTIVATION
The motivation behind this project comes from my own cultural background. I am a Third Culture Kid (TCK) - someone who has grown up in several different countries and cultural environments. I have often asked myself which one of the seven cultures I identify most strongly to.
​
Through scientific research studies and interviews with professional psychologists specialising in multi cultural issues, I discovered that TCKs and individuals with an intricate multi cultural backgrounds have a greater emotional instability compared to people who have lived in fewer countries and therefore, have a stronger sense of cultural identity. It has been noted that TCKs experiences sensations of anxiety, loss and grief and a low sense of belonging to their community.
In this increasingly globalised world, the term Third Culture Kid has become less of an anomaly and I am inclined to discover the effect that a multi faceted cultural background has on a sense of belonging towards a cultural community. Through audience participation, I will build a community which aims to make people aware of each others cultural similarities and differences - ultimately leading to an increased sense of belonging among the participants
THE BELONGING SURVEY
​
The Circle of Belonging refers greatly to critical design as it is based around the discovery and reflection of a social issue. With the use of criticality through ethnographic research methods such as social network mapping, I searched for my target audience of Third Culture Kids. The rules-based Belonging Survey played a key role in the completion of this project. Participants were asked to share the number of countries they had lived in and their sense of belonging towards a cultural community. Other descriptive questions about feelings of confusion and preference of natural environments encouraged the visual decision making of the spatial design. The 50 responses were used as the base of the growing collective. When assessing the collected data from extreme user interviews and the Belonging Survey, there was a clear trend which I aimed to visualise and continue exploring through the cumulative data design.
DESIGN APPROACH
​
Adopting a participatory approach to my design, my audience became subject to the developmental prototypes and their feedback played a large role in the evolution of the project. In addition, the balance between a research-led and design-led approach during the process encouraged me to continually broaden my understanding of the social impact of cultural identity and data visualisation theory.
​
Considering visual variable and data organisation factors, the protagonist of this project became the circle. The motivation for this element derives from the Gestalt principles of Closure and Continuation, highlighting the circle's expression of togetherness and community.
​
DESIGN PROCESS
​
During the early stages of the data visualisation it was important to consider the contrasting variables of qualitative and quantitative data. The visuals needed to clearly communicate a numbered variable (representing the number of countries lived in), and an abstract variable (representing a sense of belonging) while maintaining the global expression of the circle. Carefully considering visual variable and data organisation factors, a series of iterations were developed and discussed with participants through user feedback sessions.
​
After several iteration and spatial visualisations, the final version reveals a timeline progression of countries lived in and its effect on the belonging circle. It has also transformed into a very user centred design. Audience participation is encouraged in order to grow the collective data and to consequentially project this data in real time.
​
