Numbers describe the world, but they rarely tell the whole story. Official statistics capture what can be counted; what people feel, perceive and experience often stays invisible. Beyond Numbers set out to make that invisible layer visible. Across nine German cities, students of the BA Mediendesign programme explored the gap between official data and lived reality, guided by a single question: what really counts?
Working in teams, the students designed their own surveys and took them into the streets of their cities. They asked residents how they perceive and use their urban environment, then set these findings against the official statistics on the same questions. Where the two diverge, a more complex reality comes into view — and this is where the project locates the work of design: not in decorating data, but in giving form to what statistics leave out. Each visualization is paired with a participatory element that invites visitors to cast their own vote and become part of the survey.
Do children have space in our city?
This work asks how child-friendly public space is perceived and how it is actually used. Drawing on street surveys and official data, it reveals the distance between the image a city holds of itself and the everyday experience of the people — and especially the children — who live in it. Shown at the Museum Angewandte Kunst, the piece invites visitors to cast their own vote, making each viewer part of the ongoing survey.
Students: Mia Betolaza, Charlotte Ermerling, Jil Möde, Ennie Schiewe
Beyond Numbers was shown in the WDC-Campus exhibition young talents at work at the Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt (3 July – 9 August 2026), part of World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026 and its theme Design for Democracy. Further works from the project can be seen at the IU campuses in Mainz and Berlin, where visitors can also take part.
Reflection
Beyond Numbers understands data visualization as a democratic practice. Deciding what to count, and how to show it, is never neutral: those who appear in the numbers become visible, while those who do not risk falling out of the conversation. By setting official statistics against lived experience — and by inviting visitors to add their own voice — the project makes the case for a fuller, more inclusive picture of the cities we share.
Special thanks
Our deepest thanks go to the students. Building teams across nine cities, coordinating at a distance and still producing work of this quality is anything but a given — it is an extraordinary achievement. Special thanks to Prof. Silke Herwig for the close collaboration throughout, and to the curatorial team of the WDC-Campus, Corinna Gratzl and Julia Klass, together with the Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, for making the exhibition possible.
Project Team
Teaching: Prof. Annelie Franke, Prof. Silke Herwig Course: Data Visualization module "Democracy in Numbers", BA Mediendesign Institution: IU Internationale Hochschule Exhibition: WDC-Campus "young talents at work", World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026, Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt (3 July – 9 August 2026)
Participants: Mia Betolaza, Charlotte Ermerling, Jennifer Förster, Anna Gampper, Jonas Grabenhorst, Pascal Haibach, Hadjer Hasan Abead, Liliana Heinemann, Jona Heithecker, Hannah Jäger, Eva-Maria Klein, Leonie Lenzen, Annika Löffler, Eve Johanna Marschner, Jil Möde, Sarah Obermaier, Thomas Raaß, Lilly Rasche, Sara Reese, Kiliano Ribeiro, Elias Ritter, Marcel Röder, Eveline Rutkowski, Ennie Schiewe, Matti van Well, Lea Völklein, Olaf Wagener, Fabian Mattia Weber, Yannick Wirth, Johanna Greta Witzleben, Thea Woronow
Partner Institutions
World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026: [link] Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt: [link] IU Internationale Hochschule: [link]