Investigating Ethical Data Communication with Purrsuasion: An Educational Game about Negotiated Data Disclosure

Abstract

Data communication entails ethical dilemmas where situational constraints forbid full disclosure of source data. Whereas visualization research and pedagogy often frames ethics as a matter of individuals making deceptive design choices or being misled, disclosure problems involve negotiation between pro-social actors. To provide observability into these situated judgments, we contribute Purrsuasion, an open-source visualization game where participants play the roles of (i) data providers designing visualizations subject to disclosure constraints and (ii) data seekers requesting information and awarding a contract. We deploy Purrsuasion in an undergraduate data science class (N = 27), gathering gameplay data to support a mixed-methods analysis of students' communication dynamics, problem solving, and trust formation. We find that difficulties envisioning an ideal visualization solution lead to satisficing in visualization authoring and difficulties attributing authorial intent. Given these challenges, we approach scoring student solutions by developing a heuristic rubric that supports sociotechnical judgments of disclosure adherence.