Henriette Friis

Hi, 

I’m Henriette and I’m one of the TAs for this course. I’m a Danish designer specialising in sustainability. As a practitioner and researcher I seek to explore ways for design to affect not only the built environment, but also policies, strategies and society at large. My approach to design is led by values and powered by empathy, with the goal of creating positive, sustainable change in the world.

My interest in data was first sparked after reading Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. My understanding of data infrastructures and all the issues of power and oppression embedded in the current nature of data processes was further developed through reading the book Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein. This book has been instrumental in finding a direction for my thesis, which I am currently working on. 

As a student in the Creative Sustainability programme, I have especially focused my energy on the social and political aspects of sustainability. I am passionate about working with people and about facilitating change for just societies, and I see data practices as an obvious area of opportunity to influence policy and enable agency. Data is central to evidence-based policy making and thereby resource distribution.

Understanding the role of data, and subsequently the power that follows, can play an important role in addressing issues of social inequality and environmental injustice. In my thesis I will study how power relations within and beyond the data science industry shape and are in turn shaped by society’s systems of oppression. 

I am interested in understanding the role data plays in upholding the status quo. I want to know how we might use a feminist approach to reanalyse old data which has laid the foundation for, and continues to support, the systems of oppression that we see today. I believe improved civic data literacy might be a step in the right direction, so how might we work towards more transparent data practices, while simultaneously empowering civil society through data literacy? It will not be the first time these topics are reviewed, but I do believe that my perspective as a designer studying sustainability will add valuable insights. The same way that looking at design through a new lens, e.g. sustainability, enables us to see how design might/should change, looking at data through the lens of design, justice and feminism will enable us to see how data might/should change.

In terms of how data is visualised, I want to explore the differences between data that represents and data that performs. Again, there is power at play. The colours, shapes, sizes, etc. we choose to represent data has major psychological effect on the way we perceive data. So, while data visualisations can be a powerful tool to present data to people who might otherwise not understand it, this can also be abused.

When I’m not buried in articles and books about data justice I very much enjoy photography, cooking, doing various crafts, practicing yoga and hiking. I am practicing the balance between work and play, and I believe it to be very important that we carve out the time in our daily lives to be curious and playful.