Paper Title
Social Interaction in the Digital Era: Towards Flexible Design of Home Layout

Abstract
Recently, smart technology has been attracting more and more attention since it became an integral part of our life. This technological revolution had substantial impact on the dynamics of the family and on the inter-family interactions. Indeed, it has contributed to emergence of new lifestyles that depend on smart technology in daily routine, which negatively affected the intensity of social interaction. This study aimed to propose design guidelines which will enhance social interaction among family members. So, a mixed-method approach was adopted to understand the complexity of social interaction in digital era. This was achieved through the following: First, content analysis of written and visual documents and audio-visual material was performed to explore emergence of new types of social interaction within families. Second, quantitative statistical analysis was performed on data drawn from a structured questionnaire that was employed to collect data from 512 head of household who are living in apartment. Third, four online workshops were conducted with academics (23 master’s students and 29 faculty members) and professionals (32 architects and 21 developers). Based on their feedback, several recommendations were proposed to enhance flexibility and vitality of interior home layout, and then promote social interaction within families in the digital era. Keywords - Digital Era, Flexibility Design, Human Behavior, Information Communication Technology, and Social Interaction.