Abstract
This thesis explores the question of how the leisure-walking experience of Johannesburg North’s citizens can be enhanced, through the leveraging of smart technology, using a Human-centred Interaction Design (HC-IxD) approach.
This exploration is illustrated through the documentation of the process of an Interaction Design (IxD) project – which forms the primary component of the study’s Research through Design (RtD) methodology - as well as the reflection on and evaluation of the design process, which comprises the Discussion and Conclusion components of the RtD methodology. The IxD project focusses on The Emmarentia Dam and Johannesburg Botanical Gardens (EDBG), as a model of a public walking space where smart technology can be utilised to optimise the leisure-walking experience of users.
The design process involves the collection and analysis of data, obtained through the use of generative design research tools - such as qualitative user-interviews, participatory map-drawing exercises, AEIOU observations and proof-of-concept user-experience testing - which informed the framing of the IxD project’s ‘wicked problem’, as well as the subsequent ideation, prototyping and design of its solution, in the form of an interactive mobile application.
The conclusion of the study - formed by a reflective evaluation of the design process of the IxD project and its fundamental outcomes - provides insight into the efficacy and nuances of a HC-IxD approach to the design of smart technology to improve the way that Johannesburg North’s citizens use and experience public walking spaces like the Emmarentia Dam & Botanical Gardens.