Don't Kill Your Neighbours• In progress

You forgot an organ! A data story about your gut microbiota.

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Supervisor

Nicholas Woolridge, Associate Professor in Biology and Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto

Content Advisor

Dana Philpott, Professor and Associate Chair of Research in Immunology, University of Toronto

Location

University of Toronto Missisauga

Audience

Educated lay public, university students

Roles and Responsibilities

Research, storyboarding, science content, illustrator, 3D modeling

Tools

Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, InDesign, Blender, Figma

The first few years of life represent a critical period of development for the gut microbiota. It forms a mutually beneficial partnership with you, so much so that it's considered an organ in the human body. By engaging with the environment, functions that are vital to your lifelong health are established. But this isn't something the average person knows.

Most communication tools take the form of animations, or didactic reports or textbooks, each frought with their own limitations. Existing aimations can only provide a general overview or a specific aspect of this relationship; they cannot illustrate important complexities. Journal articles are exhaustive but contain technical jargon that is too complex for a lay audience, and even university students to understand.

There does not yet exist a tool that acts as a happy medium that scaffolds the complexities of this phenonmenon in an accessible way.

Bridging this communication gap requires connecting research findings with the people and lives that they represent. Storytelling is a powerful form of rhetoric that can do just that. The goal of this thesis is to develop a data story about the growth and development of the gut microbiota.

1. Construct an engaging narrative that acts as a mental framework for scaffolding data and broadening myopic perspectives
2. Develop multi-layered data visualizations to illustrate complexities in this relationship
3. Promote transparency in both the research communicated and the data visualization workflow
4. Develop accessible visualizations
5. Refine design skills and 3D modeling skills

I held weekly meetings with my committee to touch base and gather feedback. I used Clockify to track my hours. My project timeline will be uploaded soon!

Utilizing secondary user research to mitigate misconceptions

I often feel that the optics of science research are negative and alienating. What are scientists talking about now? Why are they always changing their minds? Does it have anything to do with me?

Keeping this in mind, I researched existing studies and compiled a reference document for misconceptions about the microbiota and about science in general. The purpose of this secondary user research was to guide the narrative, ensuring I don't perpetuate these misconceptions, and instead effect change in these attitudes. A more formal user survey is in development from these results.

Mindmapping relevant areas of research in information design

This project represents my interest at the intersection of information design and science research. I had a lot of fun learning more about information design! One book I loved reading and would highly recommend is the Data Visualization Handbook by Juuso Koponen and Jonatan Hildén.

I began this project with little knowledge of the gut microbiota. The most challenging aspect was making sense of the research and prioritizing sub-fields of study.

To resolve this issue, I first made an outline of potential content and a preliminary narrative that I shared with my committee. It was a rapid iterative approach with several rough documents that could be easily discarded and changed. I worked closely with my content advisor to limit the scope of the research, navigate controversial points and uncertainties in the field, and figure out the relevant pieces of knowledge to translate for the general public.

Visual outlining to develop the "big picture" of the story on the gut microbiota

Research and writing was recursive. Whenever I got stuck writing, I would return to the research and see that it was due to a lack of content or a lack of understanding. The problem with this approach was that it was inefficient and I'd lose sight of the scope. What I needed was a stronger vision of the big picture of the story.

Here's what helped me make sense of what I wanted to communicate: I made a map. I wrote down the main topics (i.e. the headings) from my research document on sticky notes and arranged them in different story shapes. I asked myself: What would be an effective beginning? What is the big idea that I want to return to, or the take-home message?

Having to physically move around the "ideas" and see the story try on different flows in a rough but incredibly flexible format created a much more effective outline—it was essentially a map. A digital, clean version in Figma is forthcoming!

My next goal is to create a cohesive draft with text, visuals, data visualizations. Last updated: Mar 1, 2022