What is Urban Interaction Design?
The experience of the city is no longer just physical. Digital media play an increasingly important role. Nowadays, no one leaves the house without a mobile phone, with the online world within reach. You find the best restaurant by scanning the surroundings through your screen, and while waiting for the bus, you post about how fun the evening was. Digital developments are increasingly influencing how people move through the city and interact with each other in public spaces. Do you want to learn to design beyond the boundaries of your own field? Are you excited to work on a project in the city for a real client? Then join the minor in Urban Interaction Design.
Program
In the Urban IxD minor, you will design places in the city where digital and physical experiences are intertwined. This requires a transdisciplinary approach, a way of working where a design is created from multiple perspectives. You will work in a team with students from various disciplines, absorbing the knowledge and approaches of your fellow students, and together you will create new insights and concepts.
The minor starts in February 2025 with a series of bootcamps. Here, you will gain knowledge of psychology and learn methods from product design, urban planning, and digital design. You will also learn to critically examine developments and design from public values. This way, you will have a common foundation to get started. Then, we will conduct field research in Amsterdam and Berlin to compare these two locations.
Next, you will work on a design project in (and for) a neighborhood in Amsterdam, where sustainability, diversity, and digitalization are important themes. You and your team will receive intensive guidance from various coaches, and there will be regular inspiration sessions with designers from the professional field. You will work towards an interactive prototype and an exhibition in the neighborhood.
The study load for this minor is 32 hours per week (12 contact hours and 20 hours of independent or team work), which means you are expected to be at school 4 days a week.
Field research in Berlin
Contact
If you have any questions, you can contact Marjolijn Ruyg via email: m.ruyg@hva.nl.
