Sketching Across the Senses: Exploring Sensory Translation as a Generative Practice for Designing Data Representations

Abstract

This workshop engages the phenomenon of synesthesia to explore how translating between sensory modalities might uncover new ways to experience and represent data: What does it mean to taste a timeline, hear a network, or touch a categorical scale? We employ the method of sketching, which traditionally favors visual representations, and consider what it means to sketch' in other modalities like sound, taste, and touch. Through a series of rapid, playful activities ideating data representations across sensory modalities, we will explore how the affordances of sketching - like intentional ambiguity - might help designers creatively map data to experience. We will also discuss challenges for sensory sketching in remote, collaborative environments and brainstorm suggestions for digital tools. The outcome of this workshop will be a series of exercises and examples that serve as a toolkit for designers, researchers, and data practitioners to incorporate sketching across the senses into their work.