Take part in a questionnaire that maps the invisible struggles of women and gender-expansive designers and recieve your Artistic Identity Plant!
Take part in a questionnaire that maps the invisible struggles of women and gender-expansive designers and recieve your Artistic Identity Plant!
Take part in a questionnaire that maps the invisible struggles of women and gender-expansive designers and recieve your Artistic Identity Plant!
Scroll
How do you measure experiences that dominant institutions refuse to see?
How do you measure experiences that dominant institutions refuse to see?
How do you measure experiences that dominant institutions refuse to see?
Project Description
Project Description
Project Description
DESIGNED FOR REPRESENTATION
DESIGNED FOR REPRESENTATION
DESIGNED FOR REPRESENTATION
Mapping how the patriarchal
structures of the contemporary
design field shape the professional identity of women and gender expansive designers
Mapping how the patriarchal
structures of the contemporary
design field shape the professional
identity of women and gender
expansive designers
Mapping how the patriarchal
structures of the contemporary
design field shape the professional identity of women and gender expansive designers
Through an interactive, web-based survey, each participant’s story takes form as a plant — not a biological one, but a data-organism grown from narrative patterns, such as growth, blockage, adaptation, struggle, emotional burden and care. It is a digital ritual of reciprocity, designed to visualize, validate, and center the voice of the marginalised.
Through an interactive, web-based survey, each participant’s story takes form as a plant — not a biological one, but a data-organism grown from narrative patterns, such as growth, blockage, adaptation, struggle, emotional burden and care. It is a digital ritual of reciprocity, designed to visualize, validate, and center the voice of the marginalised.
Through an interactive, web-based survey, each participant’s story takes form as a plant — not a biological one, but a data-organism grown from narrative patterns, such as growth, blockage, adaptation, struggle, emotional burden and care. It is a digital ritual of reciprocity, designed to visualize, validate, and center the voice of the marginalised.
This digital garden offers an alternative design methodology rooted in care: a living, embodied, and feminist practice of visualization, where data itself becomes alive.
This digital garden offers an alternative design methodology rooted in care: a living, embodied, and feminist practice of visualization, where data itself becomes alive.
This digital garden offers an alternative design methodology rooted in care: a living, embodied, and feminist practice of visualization, where data itself becomes alive.
FORMING THE IDENTITIES
FORMING THE IDENTITIES
FORMING THE IDENTITIES
The project proposes a shift from the abstraction of traditional data visualization to personalised, living representations through generative design
The project proposes a shift from the abstraction of traditional data visualization to personalised, living representations through generative design
The project proposes a shift from the abstraction of traditional data visualization to personalised, living representations through generative design
The Input
The Input
Share your experiences navigating power structures, invisible labor, and competitive agency culture.
The Algorithm
The Algorithm
Your answers dynamically dictate the shape, color, and composition of a customized digital plant.
The Metaphor
The Metaphor
Systemic disadvantages act as environmental variables, altering the organism's growth to visualize how a male-centric industry forces your identity to adapt to survive.
The Input
The Input
Share your experiences navigating power structures, invisible labor, and competitive agency culture.
The Algorithm
The Algorithm
Your answers dynamically dictate the shape, color, and composition of a customized digital plant.
The Metaphor
The Metaphor
Systemic disadvantages act as environmental variables, altering the organism's growth to visualize how a male-centric industry forces your identity to adapt to survive.
The Input
The Input
Share your experiences navigating power structures, invisible labor, and competitive agency culture.
The Algorithm
The Algorithm
Your answers dynamically dictate the shape, color, and composition of a customized digital plant.
The Metaphor
The Metaphor
Systemic disadvantages act as environmental variables, altering the organism's growth to visualize how a male-centric industry forces your identity to adapt to survive.
Project Background
Project Background
Project Background
INDUSTRIAL CONTRADICTION
INDUSTRIAL CONTRADICTION
INDUSTRIAL CONTRADICTION
The leaky pipeline of the design industry leaves the design profession distinctively white and male-dominated
The leaky pipeline of the design industry leaves the design profession distinctively white and male-dominated
The leaky pipeline of the design industry leaves the design profession distinctively white and male-dominated
This statistical gap is the symptom of a deeper, systemic issue that cannot be captured by numbers alone
This statistical gap is the symptom of a deeper, systemic issue that cannot be captured by numbers alone
This statistical gap is the symptom of a deeper, systemic issue that cannot be captured by numbers alone
63%
63%
Women make up 63% of university students in creative arts and design (Design Council, 2018)
Women make up 63% of university students in creative arts and design (Design Council, 2018)
Women make up 63% of university students in creative arts and design (Design Council, 2018)
17%
17%
Women are much less likely to hold senior roles, with only 17% of design managers being female
Women are much less likely to hold senior roles, with only 17% of design managers being female
Women are much less likely to hold senior roles, with only 17% of design managers being female
How does the industry define success, authority, and "good design"?
How does the industry define success, authority, and "good design"?
How does the industry define success, authority, and "good design"?
PATRIARCHAL STRUCTURES
PATRIARCHAL STRUCTURES
PATRIARCHAL STRUCTURES
Standards of "good design"
Standards of "good design"
Because industry leadership remains predominantly male, foundational design standards are steeped in patriarchal values. The industry favors rational, minimalist aesthetics coded as "masculine," while glorifying the overworked "solitary genius." To survive this combative culture, women and gender-expansive designers are often forced to suppress their intuitive identities, navigating spaces where speaking up is penalized.
Because industry leadership remains predominantly male, foundational design standards are steeped in patriarchal values. The industry favors rational, minimalist aesthetics coded as "masculine," while glorifying the overworked "solitary genius." To survive this combative culture, women and gender-expansive designers are often forced to suppress their intuitive identities, navigating spaces where speaking up is penalized.
The Weight of Invisible Labor
The Weight of Invisible Labor
Marginalized designers navigate a "matrix of domination"—a system of toxic work cultures, unequal pay, and exhausting invisible labor. This includes uncredited administrative tasks and the emotional heavy lifting required to manage others' anxieties. Because it lacks a physical form, capitalism renders this work economically worthless. Crucially, this burden does not fall equally; it compounds heavily for designers of color due to intersecting barriers of race and class.
Marginalized designers navigate a "matrix of domination"—a system of toxic work cultures, unequal pay, and exhausting invisible labor. This includes uncredited administrative tasks and the emotional heavy lifting required to manage others' anxieties. Because it lacks a physical form, capitalism renders this work economically worthless. Crucially, this burden does not fall equally; it compounds heavily for designers of color due to intersecting barriers of race and class.
The "Missing Datasets"
The "Missing Datasets"
Because dominant institutions refuse to value or measure these daily realities, the systemic struggles of marginalized designers are erased. They become "missing datasets"—crucial lived experiences that traditional data science and the design industry actively ignore.
Because dominant institutions refuse to value or measure these daily realities, the systemic struggles of marginalized designers are erased. They become "missing datasets"—crucial lived experiences that traditional data science and the design industry actively ignore.
Research & Design Guidelines
Research & Design Guidelines
Research & Design Guidelines
DATA VISUALIZATION
DATA VISUALIZATION
DATA VISUALIZATION
Data cleaning
Data cleaning
Data cleaning
Standard data science often responds to this complexity through aggressive "data cleaning," a process that suppresses outlier voices to prioritize control. When translated into traditional data visualization, this abstracted data is forced into strict minimalism. While clean layouts and geometric charts are praised as neutral, they rely on the "god trick"—the illusion of seeing everything objectively from nowhere—to hide the dominant perspective behind it.
Standard data science often responds to this complexity through aggressive "data cleaning," a process that suppresses outlier voices to prioritize control. When translated into traditional data visualization, this abstracted data is forced into strict minimalism. While clean layouts and geometric charts are praised as neutral, they rely on the "god trick"—the illusion of seeing everything objectively from nowhere—to hide the dominant perspective behind it.
Standard data science often responds to this complexity through aggressive "data cleaning", a process that suppresses outlier voices to prioritize control. When translated into traditional data visualization, this abstracted data is forced into strict minimalism. While clean layouts and geometric charts are praised as neutral, they rely on the "god trick"—the illusion of seeing everything objectively from nowhere—to hide the dominant perspective behind it.
The field's rejection of complex emotions or personal narratives is not a standard of clarity; it is a mechanism of exclusion.
The field's rejection of complex emotions or personal narratives is not a standard of clarity; it is a mechanism of exclusion.
The field's rejection of complex emotions or personal narratives is not a standard of clarity; it is a mechanism of exclusion.
Reclaiming data visualization
Reclaiming data visualization
Reclaiming data visualization
To challenge these exclusionary standards, this project aims to address the root causes of structural oppression by collecting "counterdata" and validating a designer's situated reality that dominant institutions ignore. Data is never just "raw" numbers. As outlined by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, data is a social artifact—"cooked" by the unequal power dynamics of the environment in which it is collected. Professional identity is not formed in a vacuum, it is forged through the continuous negotiation between their authentic intuition and the systemic power dynamics that govern their environment.
To challenge these exclusionary standards, this project aims to address the root causes of structural oppression by collecting "counterdata" and validating a designer's situated reality that dominant institutions ignore. Data is never just "raw" numbers. As outlined by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, data is a social artifact—"cooked" by the unequal power dynamics of the environment in which it is collected. Professional identity is not formed in a vacuum, it is forged through the continuous negotiation between their authentic intuition and the systemic power dynamics that govern their environment.
To challenge these exclusionary standards, this project aims to address the root causes of structural oppression by collecting "counterdata" and validating a designer's situated reality that dominant institutions ignore. Data is never just "raw" numbers. As outlined by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, data is a social artifact—"cooked" by the unequal power dynamics of the environment in which it is collected. Professional identity is not formed in a vacuum, it is forged through the continuous negotiation between their authentic intuition and the systemic power dynamics that govern their environment.
By centering the lived experiences of marginalized communities and embracing feminist objectivity—the understanding that all knowledge is situated—we can visualize these hidden struggles and work toward dismantling exploitative systems.
By centering the lived experiences of marginalized communities and embracing feminist objectivity—the understanding that all knowledge is situated—we can visualize these hidden struggles and work toward dismantling exploitative systems.
By centering the lived experiences of marginalized communities and embracing feminist objectivity—the understanding that all knowledge is situated—we can visualize these hidden struggles and work toward dismantling exploitative systems.
DATA FEMINISM
DATA FEMINISM
DATA FEMINISM
The project utilises these principles in the process of working with data
The project utilises these principles in the process of working with data
01
Examine Power
01
Examine Power
02
Challenge Power
02
Challenge Power
03
Elevate Emotion and Embodiment
03
Elevate Emotion and Embodiment
04
Rethink Binaries
04
Rethink Binaries
05
Embrace Pluralism
05
Embrace Pluralism
06
Consider Context
06
Consider Context
07
Make Labor Visible
07
Make Labor Visible
01
Examine Power
02
Challenge Power
03
Elevate Emotion and Embodiment
04
Rethink Binaries
05
Embrace Pluralism
06
Consider Context
07
Make Labor Visible
HOW IS IT USED HERE?
HOW IS IT USED HERE?
HOW IS IT USED HERE?
Visualizing the Missing Datasets
Visualizing the Missing Datasets
Here, Data Feminism is not just a theory—it is a design strategy used to visualize the "missing datasets" of systemic obstacles and invisible labor you navigate daily. The questionnaire you take is rooted directly in these feminist principles.
The Power of Co-Creation
The Power of Co-Creation
To document your experiences, I intentionally surrender some of the control as the designer. By answering the questions, you generate your own data visualization. This shifts authority away from the traditional, all-knowing designer and places the power of representation in your hands.
A Reciprocal Digital Ritual
A Reciprocal Digital Ritual
This project rejects extractive data practices. Instead, it offers a reciprocal exchange: translating your hidden struggles and resilience into a living, personalized digital plant.
Visualizing the Missing Datasets
Visualizing the Missing Datasets
Here, Data Feminism is not just a theory—it is a design strategy used to visualize the "missing datasets" of systemic obstacles and invisible labor you navigate daily. The questionnaire you take is rooted directly in these feminist principles.
The Power of Co-Creation
The Power of Co-Creation
To document your experiences, I intentionally surrender some of the control as the designer. By answering the questions, you generate your own data visualization. This shifts authority away from the traditional, all-knowing designer and places the power of representation in your hands.
A Reciprocal Digital Ritual
A Reciprocal Digital Ritual
This project rejects extractive data practices. Instead, it offers a reciprocal exchange: translating your hidden struggles and resilience into a living, personalized digital plant.
Visualizing the Missing Datasets
Visualizing the Missing Datasets
Here, Data Feminism is not just a theory—it is a design strategy used to visualize the "missing datasets" of systemic obstacles and invisible labor you navigate daily. The questionnaire you take is rooted directly in these feminist principles.
The Power of Co-Creation
The Power of Co-Creation
To document your experiences, I intentionally surrender some of the control as the designer. By answering the questions, you generate your own data visualization. This shifts authority away from the traditional, all-knowing designer and places the power of representation in your hands.
A Reciprocal Digital Ritual
A Reciprocal Digital Ritual
This project rejects extractive data practices. Instead, it offers a reciprocal exchange: translating your hidden struggles and resilience into a living, personalized digital plant.
Your lived experiences directly dictate the growth, shape, and color of your unique botanical form.
Your lived experiences directly dictate the growth, shape, and color of your unique botanical form.
Your lived experiences directly dictate the growth, shape, and color of your unique botanical form.
Lets talk !
If you are interested in the
research please contact me
Lets talk !
If you are interested in the
research please contact me
Lets talk !
If you are interested in the
research please contact me
