Seyr-i Sancak is a conceptual mobile application designed to encourage the discovery and archival of historical crescent-and-star motifs embedded within the urban fabric of İzmir’s Kemeraltı district.
Background
Seyr-i Sancak is a mobile application concept designed to encourage the discovery of historical structures and crescent-and-star motifs embedded within the Kemeraltı district of İzmir.
The project was developed as a digital extension of the Bayrakbilim ve Türk Bayrakları Müzesi, aiming to connect cultural heritage with contemporary mobile interaction. By using the camera and scanning capabilities of smartphones, the application explores how urban exploration can become a more engaging and educational experience.
Rather than presenting history as static information, Seyr-i Sancak reimagines it as something users can actively discover and document.
Urban cultural heritage often exists in plain sight, yet remains unnoticed or undocumented by the people moving through it.
Historical symbols and architectural details are rarely accessible through engaging digital tools, and existing museum experiences are typically confined to physical spaces.
The challenge was designing a system that could bridge the gap between physical environments and digital interaction — making cultural exploration more visible, participatory, and accessible.
The design approach focused on combining mobile scanning technology with principles of exploration and gamification.
Users could discover architectural symbols through their camera, archive findings, and engage with contextual information tied to location and cultural narratives.
The interface was designed to feel lightweight and exploratory, prioritizing curiosity over instruction. Instead of guiding users through fixed paths, the system encouraged self-directed discovery.
The goal was to transform passive observation into active participation.
The outcome was a mobile prototype that reframed urban exploration as an interactive and archival experience.
By integrating scanning, location awareness, and contextual storytelling, Seyr-i Sancak demonstrated how digital tools could deepen the relationship between users and their physical environment.
This project expanded my perspective on designing beyond commercial products — exploring how interaction design can support cultural preservation, curiosity, and collective memory.
