Designing Digital-Physical Meeting Places to Enhance Social Interaction

Abstract: Involuntary loneliness has become a societal challenge and might be developed into mental illness. Social inclusion is believed to be a key factor of mental wellness. It is important for decision makers to put in intersectoral efforts to enhance social interaction and create social belongingness which would be beneficial to the well-being of community members. This study seeks to understand how we can design digital-physical meeting places to enhance social interaction in community settings. A pre-study was conducted to understand the current social interaction experiences. Three ideas of potential solutions were generated based on the results of pre-study. A final prototype following the idea of Interactive Band was made to evaluate through user tests and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that it could be supportive for enhancing social interaction through instant feedback and variation of play. This article further discussed what design choices could facilitate interaction with the designed object and interaction with other people and what should be considered when designing for a community.