Exploring Design Seeds for Urban Transformation

There is a growing interest in considering interaction aspects for the design of urban public places. Emerging approaches present different frames inherent to the interplay among people and information between us and address the role of urban infrastructures and technologies in encouraging interactions. In this paper, we use the concept of Urban Interaction Design to provide a framework for understanding transformations due to urban design, while bringing new values and perspectives into the design process itself. This framework is a product of three design seeds: participatory urbanism, urban data visualization and urban gamification. Each one of them contributes to specific insights and mechanics to re-defining urban interaction. We use three design cases to illustrate how Urban Interaction Design is a promising path to follow in the context of sustainable HCI. The concepts are discussed highlighting the main assets for future development.