Istället för en parkbänk : Värdet att forma fysiska mötesplatser i en digitaliserad värld

Sammanfattning: This work is a thesis in Information Design with a focus on Spatial Design. The purpose of the work is to investigate the needs and functions that a larger food store’s foyer boutique has to fill, with increasing digitalization and the changing habits of shoppers using more online services instead of shopping in physical stores. Digitalization means that people do not have to shop at a physical location, with a result in people no longer meeting face-to-face in the same manner as before. The work also examines how the store’s foyer area spatially can make visible and communicate a solution to meet these needs and functions. Questionnaires have been developed to find out what needs and functions a food store’s foyer boutique needs to fill. A focus group has been carried out with participants who are knowledgeable in the area of shop fittings. Also, a site analysis of ICA Maxi Eurostop in Örebro has been carried out in order to be able to communicate and make visible a solution to the needs and functions to be found in a grocery store's foyer boutique.  Based on theory and empirical evidence, a design proposal has been developed that shows how larger food stores' foyer boutiques can be used as meeting places. Instead of only placing a bench, this work has produced a modular booth with several types of seating possibilities. The module booth also has electrical outlets to be able to charge digital devices and has ceilings and fabric-covered walls to reduce the transition of sound, thus forming a kind of sound-damping room within the room. By placing out different types of seating opportunities, more people can stop and meet, which can facilitate social interactions between people (Gehl 2011).  Keywords: Digitization, shop fittings, meeting place, spatial design, public spaces.