Designing participatory data physicalization as cultural connectors for a Quantified Us

Abstract This paper examines participatory data physicalization as a mode of public engagement. Building on the shift from the Quantified Self to a Quantified Us , the study investigates how data can enable shared meaning-making and intercultural dialogue beyond individual reflection. Culture is understood here as encompassing identity differences, knowledge perspectives, symbolic associations, and lived contexts of interpretation. Using a Research through Design methodology, nine wellness-focused installations deployed in university campus public spaces revealed five recurring design dimensions: material affordances and metaphors, participation framing, interpretive flexibility and situated meaning, peer visibility and intercultural encounter, and publicness as cultural care. Findings show that participatory data physicalization can serve as civic infrastructure, where data is not only represented but also co-authored, negotiated, and encountered as a living communal resource. Shared concerns around identity, community, and emotion foster resonance across differences while sustaining plurality and ambiguity. This work contributes to the cultural turn in information design by positioning participatory data engagement as a practice of recognition, solidarity, and civic connection.