Research on the influential elements of user-centred digital art design for public space

With the maturation and widespread adoption of digital technology, the integration of digital art into public spaces has emerged as a novel artistic design approach to enhance urban image. However, in the design and creation process, artists or designers often dominate, leading to a discrepancy between the artwork and the preferences or perceptions of the actual participants in public spaces, ultimately resulting in failure to achieve the desired outcomes. To design digital art installations in public spaces that attract user participation and interaction, it is essential to explore the mechanisms through which digital art influences public space design.To this end, the study first conducts a literature review to analyze the transformations under the mutual influences of digital art, public spaces, and users, thereby clarifying and defining the concepts and characteristics of digital art, public spaces, and users. Through this analysis, 15 design influence factors for digital art interventions in public spaces are identified, including scale, accessibility, and cultural-historical context. Subsequently, structural equation modeling (SEM) is employed to investigate the relationships and relative weights of the influences of public spaces, digital art, and users on users' willingness to participate, as well as the correlations and weights among the 15 influencing factors, such as scale, accessibility, and cultural-historical context. The findings reveal that public spaces, digital art, and users all have positive effects on users' willingness to participate. Furthermore, the 15 influencing factors, including scale, accessibility, and cultural-historical context, not only affect public spaces, digital art, and users but also directly influence users' willingness to participate. This study uncovers the complex interactions among digital art, public spaces, and users, providing theoretical support for the design and implementation of digital art in public spaces.