Visualization and Interaction Design

An illustration of Norrköping by Motala ström with people moving around in the environment
Image: Solith af Malmborg, Mina Mani Kashani, Malin Müller, Matilda Wallén, Dong Wang

We explore new ways for people to interact with data, technology, and digital materials in meaningful ways. Our research is centered in real-world, situated contexts and draws from a plurality of approaches and disciplines in order to understand and (re)shape our digital lives.

We design new experiences with technology through a multitude of disciplines, materials, and methods. Our work combines data with visualizations and sound, and explores new combinations of physical and digital materials, virtual and real worlds, to create novel design concepts and ways of interacting from a non-solutionist, explorative, multidisciplinary perspective. Conceptual work on underlying design theory underpins our creative engagements.
Three people standing in front of a projection in a dome theatre

Theoretically we pull from a multitude of epistemic foundations. These foundations include feminist and critical theory, and research through design, as well as more conventional scientific practices for both qualitative and quantitative inquiry. An important focus of the group is using different theoretical foundations to contextualize and situate data, interaction, and technology in real-world settings as well as to understand our role as designers in their impacts. In particular, we draw from critical perspectives that center ethics, responsibilities, and inclusivity throughout our research practices.
Colorful notes pinned to a city map

Much of our research is motivated by collaborations with a range of partners. We have worked with organizations such as museums, research labs, science centers, non-profits, and industry partners. In these collaborations we employ a variety of participatory methods, including co-design, co-speculation, living labs, and creativity workshops.

For current information about the Visualization and Interaction Design unit, please refer to the website.

Latest publications

2025

Derya Akbaba (2025) Shifting Perspectives: Conducting Visualization Research with Entanglement Epistemology
Myrto Dagkouli-Kyriakoglou, Adriana De La Peña, Laleh Foroughanfar, Jennie Gustafsson, Lorena Melgaço, Chiara Valli (2025) Eurovision and the City: "United by Music" Meets "Malmö against Genocide" Urban Planning, Vol. 10 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Mina Mani Kashani, Måns Gezelius, Jonas Löwgren, Gunnar Höst, Marta Koc-Januchta, Lena Tibell, Konrad Schönborn (2025) Designing with multiple perspectives: an interactive learning environment for developing systems thinking in a carbon cycle context Interactive Learning Environments (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Anna Fredriksson, Linnea Eriksson, Niklas Rönnberg (Editorship) (2025) Den störningsfria staden: En antologi om bygglogistik, stads- och trafikplanering
Elias Elmquist (2025) Sensibly Sound: Human-Centered Integration of Sonification and Visualization
Tobias Kauer, Derya Akbaba, Marian Dörk, Benjamin Bach (2025) Discursive Patinas: Anchoring Discussions in Data Visualizations IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS, Vol. 31, p. 1246-1256 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Derya Akbaba, Lauren Klein, Miriah Meyer (2025) Entanglements for Visualization: Changing Research Outcomes through Feminist Theory IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS, Vol. 31, p. 1279-1289 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Derya Akbaba, Jack Wilburn, Main T. Nance, Miriah Meyer (2025) Manifesto for Putting 'Chartjunk' in the Trash 2021!

2024

Lonni Besançon, Brian A. Nosek, Tamarinde Haven, Miriah Meyer, Cody Dunne, Mohammad Ghoniem (2024) Merits and Limits of Preregistration for Visualization Research 2024 IEEE EVALUATION AND BEYOND-METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR VISUALIZATION, BELIV 2024, p. 89-96 (Conference paper) Continue to DOI
Conny Walchshofer, Vaishali Dhanoa, Marc Streit, Miriah Meyer (2024) Transitioning to a Commercial Dashboarding System: Socio-Technical Observations and Opportunities IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, Vol. 30, p. 381-391 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

Staff

Organisation