Co-badge: An Activity for Collaborative Engagement with Data Visualization Design Concepts

As data visualization gains popularity and projects become more interdisciplinary, there is a growing need for methods that foster creative collaboration and inform diverse audiences about data visualisation. In this paper, we introduce Co-Badge, a 90-minute design activity where participants collaboratively construct visualizations by ideating and prioritizing relevant data types, mapping them to visual variables, and constructing data badges with stationery materials. We conducted three workshops in diverse settings with participants of different backgrounds. Our findings indicate that Co-badge facilitates a playful and engaging way to gain awareness about data visualization design principles without formal training while navigating the challenges of collaboration. Our work contributes to the field of data visualization education for diverse actors. We believe Co-Badge can serve as an engaging activity that introduces basic concepts of data visualization and collaboration.