# Action-Data-Action (ADA) Cards

Summary
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**Background of method**: Data can no doubt play an important role in supporting civic action and innovation. However, what is less clear is exactly how to define this role and how to support its use amongst a diverse group of users with differing skills for data use. The ADA cards were designed for initiating an exploration of this topic, by trying to understand who might be needing to use the data in this context, what type of activities they might need to do, what tools and expertise would be available and more concretely how the data might inform or support different actions.


**Why to use it**: before utilising data as part of problem solving, it is important to explain more clearly the role of data and the people who wil be using it in order to ensure that appropriate tools and resources are available.

**When to use it**: when starting a community problem solving initiative, in order to understand whether data may play a role and what barriers might need to be overcome

# **Conducting a session with ADA cards**

**Overview**
* Time: 50-60 minutes
* Purpose: to undertsand the role of data in a problem-solving context
* Participants: general public, researchers, municipalities
* Difficulty for facilitators: 1 star
* Difficulty for participants: 4 stars 
* Materials you'll need: **1.** card set **2.** large sheet of white paper **3.** marker pens **4.** post-it notes

Description
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The cards are laid out randomly on a table on top of a large, blank, sheet of white paper. Participants select cards or groupings of cards that seem interesting to them and start a discussion about them. For example, they might pick up cards for *general public*, *time series data* and ask *what skills* would the general public likely have for this type of dataset and *what tools* would be available to help them, and what is missing from this. Blank cards can be used to add missing concepts. Connections between concepts and groupings can be made by drawing on the table or placing post it notes.

![](
https://parcos-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/volunteers.png =200x300)
Example ADA cards

Preparation
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1. Download and print the cards from [HERE](https://parcos-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Card-fronts.pptx).
2. Cut the cards to shape
3. Assemble post it notes, blank paper and marker pens

Running a session
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**Steps**
1. Lay out the cards randomly on top of the white paper
2. invite participants to explore the cards and discuss what they mean to ensure that everyone has a shared meaning about them, or to undertsand where people understand them differently
3. Ask participants to make groupings and discuss, in the context of the problem being solved - make notes onto the paper using markers and post-its
4. Once enough groupings are made, capture the main knowledge learned through the process, e.g. in terms of barriers or enablers, next steps and so on.

**How to document**
Videos and photos

**Method originators:** Annika Wolff

**Further Reading**
[Civic data literacies for bottom-up innovation](https://lutpub.lut.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/159759/wolff_et_al_civic_data_literacies_final_draft.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)

###### tags: `datascape toolkit` `toolkit` `method`