What if a computer wasn’t necessarily the best place for kids to learn the fundamentals of coding? A new wave of digital coding teaching tools has been ushered into America, with the country progressively gaining more interest in having kids learn code.  The goal of this project has been to propose an alternative teaching method, one focused and tailored to students who learn best through kinesthetic and visual means.  The approach has been to combine tangible interaction principles to help make the introductory stages of learning code as approachable and intuitive as possible.  The final result of this thesis is a modular toy system which gradually introduces kids to the fundamentals of coding independent of a computer, prompting exploration and problem solving.

Firstly, this research is a collaboration with Granny’s Dancing on the Table, a transmedia film project in which the public has the chance to affect a film script through different social media channels. Before the actual film release there will be different game-episodes released in connection to the film. I have mainly been in contact with the game company Ozma, a part of the ‘Granny team’ working on cross-media games for the project. This thesis is a side-project with the aim of exploring a more “hidden universe”, which can later be applied to the design process.Secondly, the research provides a broad picture of the dilemmas faced when applying cryptic design strategies in an urban environment. I explore a few design qualities, how they can enhance user experience and make the user curious about hidden artefacts found on the street or in a public environment. I approached the problem by placing experiments linked to one of Granny’s Dancing on the Tables’ social media channels, in the streets and institutions of the Möllan neighbourhood in Malmö, Sweden. I collected information from both field studies and the interaction design world, regarding the application of design qualities to an artefact. Moreover, I based the research on street art, human behaviour, the psychology of curiosity and visual perception within the field of (transmedia) experience design. Based on my findings from these experiments and interviews I have come up with a set of guidelines to use when applying “hiddenness” to an artefact or design concept.

The topic of smart cities is growing in importance. However, a field study in the city of Malmö, Sweden shows that there is a discrepancy between the ongoing activities of urban planners and companies using analytical and digital tools to interpret humans’ behavior and preferences on the one hand, and the visibility of these developments in public spaces on the other. Citizens are affected by the invisible data and software not only when they use an application, but also when their living space is transformed. By Research through Design, this thesis examines ways of triggering discussion about smart city issues, which are hidden in software and code. In this thesis, a specific solution is developed: a public, tangible, and interactive visualization in the form of an interactive signpost. The final, partly functioning prototype is mountable in public places and points in the direction of the most beautiful walking path. The design refers to a smart city application that analyzes geo-tagged locative media and thereby predicts the beauty and security of a place.The aim is to trigger discussion about the contradictory issue of software interpreting the beauty of a place. Through its tangible, non-digital, and temporary character, the interactive representation encourages passers-by to interact with the prototype.