The Design Value of the Relationship Between Personal and Urban Data

Abstract

Everyday life is characterized by the interaction with an ever-increasing flow of digital data; the exponential diffusion of even more miniaturized and inexpensive sensors and the ease of connection to the Internet produce a vast amount of data, originating what is called “datization” of reality. Data belong to different typologies, but a great deal concerns the personal sphere where, in a more and more broad context of Quantified Self, people voluntarily records and tracks such data, archiving events and daily facts in a meticulous way.

However, when we talk about personal data, we have to consider the perception and the interaction between subject and three different but interconnected components: device, interface and data. In this context, design becomes a fundamental discipline, first of all trying to make the user active in the management of own data and helping him to understand them through information design tools. Secondly, data and information themselves become tools and materials for design, being a fundamental component of the project and not just its objective.

New design perspectives are opened up; starting from the tools of information design, it is possible to make immediately visible and understandable behavioural patterns of individuals, but also of a community, thinking on different scales that can range from small buildings to large cities. In this way, data can become a tool to preserve and improve individual well-being and of the society, acting with a bottom-up approach that starts with true citizen and inhabitant needs.