Week 15 - 16 | MA Data Visualisation

Over the past two weeks, I engaged in two significant experiences that shaped the development of my Final Major Project (FMP) for the MA in Data Visualisation Design. Attending a guest lecture by Andy Kirk offered valuable insights into the strategic role of design decisions in visual storytelling. His concept of the “visualisation trinity”—data, design, and context—highlighted the importance of intentionality and audience awareness, which will directly inform the narrative structure of my project.

Concurrently, I have begun formulating my FMPP , titled “Visualising the Silver Future: Exploring Aging Societies and the Silver Economy through Data Narratives.” The project investigates demographic aging in the UK and Japan, focusing on how data visualisation can illuminate economic shifts, policy challenges, and the emerging potential of the “silver economy.” Inspired by Kirk’s emphasis on clarity and narrative flow, I aim to combine analytical precision with accessible storytelling across both expert and public audiences.

These experiences together have laid a strong conceptual and methodological foundation, guiding my research direction and sharpening my awareness of design’s communicative responsibility.

For the first time, I celebrated the Lunar New Year in the UK, away from my family in Canton(Guangzhou) the absence of familiar rituals and atmospheres was initially disorienting, I actively sought to recreate elements of the celebration—preparing traditional meals, connecting virtually with loved ones, and reflecting on the symbolic meanings of the festival. This process not only helped me preserve a sense of identity but also heightened my sensitivity to how cultural traditions are experienced and reinterpreted in diasporic contexts. It prompted me to consider how data and design might serve as mediums for preserving, translating, or even reimagining cultural memory.