The time has come to start working with the main project for this semester. We have been presented with several design briefs that we can work around, concentrate or combine. For the first two weeks, we are doing a first iteration to narrow down the area of focus, and get rid of cliches an dead ends. Just a practise to get started really… So for this week, deliverables are :

• State of the art/competitive review
• sketching ideas
• observe opportunities
  
• diagram the project visually
  
• plan the next iteration

Deciding on a concept:

I have not yet carved out my area to work with, but I have a general interest in working within the public domain and specialy with public space. This means for to be working on a scale that is bigger than 1:1, working with social context and cultural issues.

I decided to look into the design brief about local services and applications. I like the brief because it works around public design, and at the same time being specific to a context. The brief seems also to be open to work with alternative infrastructures and with stakeholders other than official agencies. The brief asks “what information, application and services can be usefully tied to specific places or situations?”. I also like the site-specific approach to interaction design that this brief allows.

My initial research for today has been to look at the English custom of common land:

I want to see if I can take the concept into the urban space in a meaningful way. Not working with actual physical land, but maybe applying the concept on social or intellectual property.  We can see the concept applied on network and open-source communities (see creative commons, freeware/shareware). The concept of commons appeals to me because it involves local community and individual responsibility (is collective effort inherent in local community? every individual is a stakeholder) which I think maps well with the task. For further research I will look at (my) neighbourhoods to look for opportunities too work with.

Topics: sharing,connecting, the spaces in-between (unused spaces), friendliness, character, urban applications.