I’ve always thought that information design could extend far beyond the sole purpose of displaying information effectively and attractively.
So when I first came across a self-organizing system of particles-emotions, it had immediately become one of my favourite sites.

Several new interactive information aggregators have been created since (msn Spectra being the latest), yet very few exceed simply visualizing same content in a different way.

Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar once again took another path: “I Want You To Want Me explores the search for love and self in the world of online dating. It chronicles the world’s long-term relationship with romance, across all ages, genders, and sexualities, using real data collected from Internet dating sites every few hours.”

The piece, presented on a 56″ high-resolution touch-screen, was installed at MoMA on February 14, 2008, Valentine’s Day. The less fortunate may see it on youtube, no touching though:).

From technical point of view, it’s just another data visualization engine. It’s the content that makes it remarkable. The mosaic exploring search for love turns otherwise narcissistic online dating sites into engaging storytelling.

There are not many interfaces that combine intuitive curiosity and pattern detection with insights into human behavior at such a personal level. The project might not fulfill standards of scientific research. Yet it’s one of very few examples in which information architecture does not conceal the essence of any statistical data — the single experience.