Encouraging community engagement through interactive design.
Vision 360 is an interactive experience empowering citizens to make informed decisions about the urban development of their local area.
Context
Group university project
Result
Distinction
ROLE
User Research
Concept Ideation
Prototyping
Video Production
Skills
UI/UX, Figma, Interviewing, Questionnaires, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects.
Our approach
The Challenge
Our brief was to design a product/experience that addressed United Nations SDG 11.4 ‘protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage’. Our design specifically focuses on the management and maintenance of natural heritage, so that its spiritual, cultural, social and ecological benefits may be experienced for many generations to come. We further consider the impact this has on urban citizens, and how design solutions may contribute to the sustainability of natural heritage.
Digging deeper
Using an explorative research methodology were able learn more about the potential users and better define the problem area.
Research Findings
- Citizens were more likely be active community members if they felt a sense of belonging or ownership towards their place of residence.
- Participants shared limited understanding regarding the historical and ecological significance of their local area.
- Particpants displayed an awareness barrier when in came to participating in communal activities.
Based on these research findings, and our belief that positive change comes from empowering those most impacted, we reframed the problem and asked:
How might we create a sense of custodianship amongst urban citizens to ensure they take ownership in the maintenance and management natural heritage?
Developing solutions
To address this problem we focused on designing features that would help facilitate community engagement. These features aim to better inform citizens, open channels of communication, and encourage community action.
OUR DESIGN
The interactive timeline
The interactive timeline encourages users to learn more about the natural and cultural heritage of their surrounding area by visualising environmental change over time.
Fostering a sense of custodianship between citizens and their surrounding environment.
Key Interactions
Timeline scroll: scrolling reveals major changes over the decades.
Points of interest: clicking here reveals additional information.
User Generated Enviroments
User generated environments provide citizens an opportunity to generate their own unique vision for the proposed development site.
Assisting citizens to develop and express their personalised needs.
Key Interactions
Drag-and-drop: Drag and drop objects from an asset library into the space provided.
Publish: Clicking here publishes the users work to a public database.
Public Viewing
Users may publish their designs to an open collection for public viewing where they may interact with other peoples designs. Additionally, this provides valuable data and insight into the unique needs of the community.
Thus, revealing a collective vision and building sense of community between citizens.
