Mick Yang & Isabella Chua—Outlier 2021—How do we translate cultural experiences into data stories?

How do we translate cultural experiences into data stories? Telling an engaging data story is a craft in and of itself; add the challenge of translating local cultures into data and charts and you’ve got yourself a real head-scratcher. We (Bella and Mick) are from Kontinentalist, a Singapore-based data viz studio which tells data stories about Asia. Our work—of instant noodles, chilli sauces, queuing in Singapore, zodiac-based fortune-telling, and the eighteen levels of hell—requires us to translate known and everyday cultural experiences into data stories that offer new takeaways. Our talk is for anyone interested in finding a data viz angle on niche topics from their communities. We hope that participants will walk away with a greater confidence that their stories matter, and learn ways to translate intangible cultural experiences into informative and engaging data stories.