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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Digital Impacts
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fhumd.2024.1406364
This article is part of the Research Topic Data-Centric Design: Data as a Human-Centred Material View all articles

Tangible Consumption Data Landscapes of Teenagers

Provisionally accepted
  • Faculty of Humanities, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Teenagers are increasingly concerned about clean energy and play a crucial role in driving energy transition. In this study, I investigate how teenagers understand energy consumption, how tangible data mapping through anthropological theories may increase their awareness, and what ideas they may have about how to change habits. I present an approach for designing new data physicalizations, shaping how to facilitate data interaction sessions, and analyzing data physicalization and interactions based on Ingoldian concepts such as the Life of Lines and Imagining for Real. The empirical material includes 1-hour sessions in two secondary education schools with 30 teenagers and video-recorded explanations about their consumption habits. The teenagers completed a questionnaire, drew a layout drawing of their home, and built a physical model of their home with products and rooms representing their energy consumption. The data landscapes encouraged participants to explore the perceptual integrity of energy-consuming habits and identify ways to change them. The self-expressive sessions demonstrate that the three data-mapping techniques enable teenagers to recount their daily consumption patterns. In particular, the tangible mapping of Consumption Data Landscapes can open avenues for engagement to increase their awareness of energy consumption and spawn responsibility for a change of habits.

    Keywords: personal data1, participatory design2, tangible interaction3, data-mapping4, energy consumption5

    Received: 24 Mar 2024; Accepted: 30 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ağça. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ayşe Özge Ağça, Faculty of Humanities, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.