A framework for body and movement-based data representations
Nicole Zizzi, Laura J. Perovich · 2025
To design bodily data representations, it is helpful to understand how people move. Bertin codified graphic design principles for data visualization and Hornecker et al. describe a design vocabulary for data physicalization. Yet, few frameworks guide the creation of data representations that use people's bodies as the material for design, or data representations that create a felt experience of data through movement. In this pictorial, we propose a set of movement parameters to serve as building blocks for body-based data representations. Our framework, consisting of six movement parameters each with up to seven sub-parameters, synthesizes the theoretical work of movement experts in Western traditions and contextualizes it in data representation based on a 10-session workshop series with dancers. Two case studies demonstrate how the movement parameters were applied to create bodily data representations intended to be viewed by an audience and bodily data representations intended to be somatically experienced.