Hi #SmartCommunity friends, in this episode of the Smart Community podcast I have a great conversation with Dr. Nathaniel Bavinton, who you may remember from way back in Episode 183. Nathaniel is an urban sociologist and Associate Director at Urbis, working in their Smart and Sustainable Places team.
In this episode Nathaniel tells us about data visualisation as an essential tool for making complex information accessible and about COVID-era advocacy work combining data with local stories. We discuss the City Intelligence platform and designing for business communities, including lessons about simplifying map-based visualisations. We talk about creative applications of data through AR/VR experiences for Indigenous dual naming projects.
We finish our chat discussing the collision of skillsets needed for effective data storytelling and the importance of thinking about narrative structure when working with data. As always, we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.
What we cover in this episode:
- The presentation of data is as important as the data itself when the mission is to ensure people understand insights and limit misinterpretation
- COVID-era advocacy combining infographics with video case studies to show how global trends impact local communities, targeting both head and heart
- The City Intelligence platform bringing together place-based data, business locations, transport, and weather to help businesses make informed decisions
- Moving from geographic maps to stylised place maps by stripping out irrelevant content to reduce cognitive load for time-poor business users
- Creative data visualisation through immersive AR/VR experiences for indigenous dual naming projects, where experiencing the information is the point
- The democratisation of visualisation tools from Canva to generative AI, making visual storytelling more accessible while raising questions about trust
- The collision of skillsets required for effective data storytelling: traditional data disciplines combined with creative art and design capabilities
- Thinking about data storytelling structurally with narrative elements like conflict, resolution, and character arc rather than treating it as just a label
Quotes:
“Data needs to be organised. Most people don’t have the skills to read data in raw or coarsely organised form… The presentation of it is as important as the actual data that’s being presented if the mission is people taking away what you want them to take away.”
“Stories can be true without them being factual. That’s the whole history of human storytelling as myth and as a communicator of culture. The truthfulness is about the relevance to the audience as much as it is around the accuracy of the data.”
“If you go into a problem trying to communicate something complex and you don’t know how people are gonna read it, then that’s a massive risk on your project. That’s the reason why co-design is a really effective methodology for most things but particularly for this.”
“Humans are storytelling creatures, and that narrative logic is intrinsic to the story. That data is the content. The story is the vehicle and the data’s what produces the flavour… If data storytelling is not a label, if it’s a genuine description of a process, then think about the story part.”
Connect:
Connect with Nathaniel Bavinton on LinkedIn
Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community
Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn and watch on YouTube
Podcast Production by Perk Digital
This podcast is recorded on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi peoples and edited on the lands of the Gaibal peoples. I pay my respects to traditional owners of country and their elders past and present. I also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today. Here on the Smart Community Podcast, we talk about data, technology, communities and the future. First Nations peoples have been sharing knowledge, caring for country, and telling stories for tens of thousands of years. I honour that deep connection of storytelling and community connection as we continue our conversation together here today.
Disclaimer
The views, opinions, and perspectives expressed by guests on The Smart Community Podcast are solely those of the individual speakers. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of the host, Zoe Eather, or of The Smart Community Podcast as a whole.
Any discussion of ideas, products, organisations, or services by podcast guests does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the host or the podcast. Listeners are encouraged to form their own opinions and seek professional advice where appropriate.
