Blurring the Lines Between the Digital and Physical: Designing a User-Interface to Create the 21st Century Town Square

Metaphors are instrumental to facilitate learning, and to the formation and maintenance of new ideas and concepts, especially in design thinking. This paper discusses the relationship of a specific metaphor in the design process, as well as in design outcomes of the collaborative project titled SQWhere. The thesis explores how a town square metaphor functioned as a creative thinking methodology and research tool throughout the design process. This metaphor provided novel ways of looking at the complex phenomena of digital social networks and human agency. Ultimately, this provides a detailed example of how a metaphorical approach to exploring a concept can guide a user-centered design process in Interaction Design. SQWhere, a mobile storytelling application for the urban pedestrian will connect people in real time and real space in environments. The SQWhere application for mobile phones will enable social interactions and information exchange through location-based storytelling— utilizing video, audio, images, and text. SQWhere will make connections happen at the grassroots level creating an environment of peer-to-peer knowledge exchange— storytelling.